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WorldCom beats estimate
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October 30, 1997: 9:51 a.m. ET
MCI suitor remains upbeat about bidding war with 3Q profit of $106M
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - WorldCom Inc., one of three companies bidding fiercely for MCI, reported third-quarter earnings Thursday of $106 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with an adjusted loss of 60 million, or 7 cents a share, last year.
Last year's figures include costs associated with WorldCom's acquisition of MFS Communications. Without those costs, the company had earnings of $109 million in 1996, or 27 cents a share.
The results beat Wall Street's expectations of 11 cents a share.
WorldCom, based in Jackson, Miss., reported revenues of $1.9 billion, compared with an adjusted $1.45 billion last year.
Operating income was $310 million, compared with $79 million last year, an increase of nearly 400 percent.
For the nine months of 1997, earnings were $241 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with $296 million, or 73 cents a share, last year.
WorldCom remained upbeat about its battle for MCI.
"The strength in our third-quarter financial results is cause for excitement," said Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom's chief executive. "I'm particularly pleased that we continue to demonstrate impressive growth at the same time we are engaged in important merger discussions."
WorldCom's acquisitions of CompuServe, part of America Online's networks division, and Brooks Fiber should be finalized by 1998, Ebbers said.
British Telecom, another MCI suitor, reported lower earnings for its second quarter. The company Thursday posted a pre-tax profit of 688 million pounds ($1.149 billion), compared with 730 pounds last year. The figure beat analysts' expectations of up to 650 million pounds.
British Telecom, which already owns 20 percent of MCI, was the first bidder to jump into the ring, offering $17 billion for the remaining 80 percent of MCI. WorldCom then proposed buying MCI for about $28 billion in stock. GTE Corp. surprised Wall Street with a $28 billion cash offer.
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