Embarq reports slow sales growthTelegeography writes…US wireline operator Embarq has reported year-on-year growth of 0.9% in fourth-quarter revenues to USD1.62 billion, with sales for the whole of 2006 rising 1.7% to USD6.36 billion. Fourth quarter net income rose from USD155 million in 2005 to USD194 million last year, while full-year income fell from USD878 million to USD784 million. The firm ended 2006 with 1.02 million high speed internet customers, with record net additions of 84,000 in the final three months of the year. Local access lines were down 6.1% over the year to 6.9 million. Embarq, which was spun off from Sprint Nextel in May last year, also claims 162,000 video customers and 48,000 wireless subscribers.
‘The fourth quarter capped a very productive seven-month period following our spin-off in May, and I’m proud of what we have been able to accomplish,’ commented Dan Hesse, Embarq’s Chairman and CEO. ‘In that short span of time, we met or exceeded expectations on almost every measure, we introduced many innovative new products and services, and we significantly improved customer and employee satisfaction.’
