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Bell Atlantic Files Pro Forma Combined Financial Results
18 de agosto de 1997
| Media contacts: | David Frail 212-395-0500 |
NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL), which completed its merger
with NYNEX Corp. on Aug. 14, 1997, today filed pro forma financial
information with the Securities and Exchange Commission for financial
periods covering the past three and a half years.
Pro forma earnings in all periods were affected by special items
disclosed previously by the separate companies. Pro forma adjusted
earnings per share, which exclude the effects of those items, grew 10
percent in 1996 to $4.49 from $4.08 in 1995. For 1995, pro forma
adjusted earnings per share grew 10.3 percent, compared with $3.70 in
1994.
For the second quarter of 1997, adjusted earnings per share were
$1.25, 12.6 percent higher than the same period a year ago. Through
the first six months of 1997, adjusted earnings per share were $2.46,
an increase of 12.8 percent compared to the first half of 1996.
"Our pro forma filing will serve as the new Bell Atlantic's financial
baseline, the starting point from which we will deliver the benefits
of our merger to customers and shareowners," said Frederic V. Salerno,
Bell Atlantic senior executive vice president and chief financial
officer.
"Our target range for long-term annual earnings per share growth is 10
to 12 percent, excluding transition and integration costs," Salerno
said, "and we are comfortable with current analysts' estimates of
$4.90 to $5.00 per share for 1997. We're confident that the power of
our merger will allow us to sustain that kind of performance over the
next few years, even while the communications industry goes through a
period of dramatic transition."
The new Bell Atlantic -- formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic
and NYNEX -- is at the forefront of the new communications,
information and entertainment industry. With 40 million telephone
access lines and 5.5 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell
Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wireline voice
and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the world's
largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic companies
are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global
communications markets, with operations and investments in 21
countries.
NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future
events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to
risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the
protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements
contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in
our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.