DALLAS, Jan. 4, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Pascal
Desroches, chief financial officer,
AT&T* Inc.
(NYSE:T), spoke today at the Citi
Media & Entertainment Conference where he provided an update to
shareholders.
Desroches made the following points:
- The company continues to focus its efforts on driving
solid growth in 5G and fiber services, driven by continued high
demand for connectivity. While the company does not expect wireless
industry growth levels to mirror those experienced in 2021 or the
first half of 2022, Desroches indicated that demand remains
healthy. The company continues to see solid demand levels via its
consistent go-to-market approach despite opting not to be as
promotional as peers during the recent holiday selling
season.
- Looking ahead to 2023, Desroches said he expects the
company to maintain its focus on growing customer relationships in
a disciplined manner, proactively reducing costs and remaining
deliberate in its capital allocation. He said that 2022 and 2023
are expected to be peak years for capital investment as the company
continues to invest in 5G and fiber. AT&T remains
focused on achieving its 2.5x net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA target
and expects to use cash after dividends to reduce debt until that
time.
- AT&T plans to provide detailed 2023 guidance when it
announces earnings later this month. Desroches
indicated he expects 2023 free cash flow growth to be
supported by wireless revenue growth from a bigger postpaid phone
base with increasing ARPUs; growth in fiber
subscribers, ARPUs and revenues; and the benefits of
ongoing cost transformation initiatives, which are expected to
increasingly support the company's profitability. Expected offsets
to these trends include expected higher cash taxes and lower cash
distributions from DIRECTV.
- Desroches reiterated AT&T's commitment to its target of 30
million-plus fiber locations, including business locations, by the
end of 2025. The company ended the third quarter of 2022 with
the ability to serve 18.5 million consumer locations and
approximately 3 million business customer locations with fiber. The
company's recently announced Gigapower joint venture gives it an
opportunity to expand fiber coverage by an initial 1.5 million
incremental locations and provides additional flexibility to
further expand its out-of-network footprint over time.
*About AT&T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and
neighbors, plus nearly 2.5 million businesses, connect to greater
possibility. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G
wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate
to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc.
(NYSE:T), please
visit us at
about.att.com. Investors can learn more
at investors.att.com.
Cautionary Language
Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains
financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are
subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ
materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results
is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise
statements contained in this news release based on new information
or otherwise.
This news release may contain certain non-GAAP financial
measures. Reconciliations between the non-GAAP financial measures
and the GAAP financial measures are available on the company's
website
at https://investors.att.com.
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AT&T Intellectual Property.
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SOURCE AT&T