FairPoint Reports $10-Million First-Quarter Loss, in Wake of Verizon Deal

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FairPoint Reports $10-Million First-Quarter Loss, in Wake of Verizon Deal

6:00 am on May 17, 2008 | Category: Business, Telecom Services, Telephone, Corporate

FairPoint Communications Inc., a small local and long distance telephone company which recently acquired Verizon’s landline businesses in three New England states, reported a net loss of $10 million for the first quarter, compared to a combined profit of $10 million in the same period a year earlier.

FairPoint officially became America’s eighth largest local telephone carrier on March 31 when it acquired Verizon’s landline operations in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, in a deal worth $2.3 billion. FairPoint’s accounting for the first quarter includes financial results from these three divisions, even though they were still formally owned by Verizon at the time.

The combined company generated revenue of $349 million in the first quarter, down from $367 million in the first three months of 2008. This drop in sales is a result of an ongoing market trend away from landline phones and towards alternative technologies such as wireless and VoIP.