Frontier Communications, which provides telephone, cable and internet across much of Connecticut, reported deep red ink for its second fiscal quarter, including a $5.4 billion writedown related to the company’s long-term business prospects.
The Norwalk-based telecom said its net loss for the three months ended June 30, was $5.32 billion, or a loss of $51.07 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $72 million, or 72 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2018.
Revenue totaled $2.07 billion, down 4.4 percent from $2.16 billion a year prior.
During the quarter, Frontier recorded a $5.4 billion goodwill impairment, which it said reflects its “expectation of continued revenue declines because of pressures on the business, reduced expectations for the transformation program, the long-term sustainability of our capital structure, a lower outlook for our overall industry, and the cumulative impact of all these factors on business trends going forward.”
The company has $276 million in remaining goodwill — which can include brand value and other factors — and said further impairments are possible.
Its late May sale of business operations in four Northwestern states produced a $384 million loss, which also contributed to its second-quarter financial picture.
Frontier had 4.3 million customers as of June 30, which was down from 4.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
Also on Tuesday, Frontier reduced its full-year earnings guidance and ramped up its expense-reduction projections. The company’s stock, which closed at $1.23 per share on Tuesday, was trading around 95 cents just before noon on Wednesday.
Frontier acquired Southern New England Telephone from AT&T in 2014 for $2 billion, but has struggled to make the business profitable.
