Bell Atlantic Profit Off; Southwestern Bell’s Up

Southwestern Bell Corp. said its profit rose sharply in the second quarter, while another Baby Bell phone company, Bell Atlantic Corp., said its earnings slipped due to a one-time charge.

Southwestern Bell said it earned $305 million, or $1.01 a share, in the three months ended June 30, up 76% from $173 million, or 57 cents, in the same period a year ago.

But the earnings in the year-ago quarter were depressed by a one-time charge of $80.7 million for debt refinancing. Without this charge, Southwestern Bell’s profit was up 20% in the most recent quarter.

The St. Louis-based company said its revenue increased 6.5%, from $2.24 billion to $2.38 billion.

The results reflected continued strong performances by Southwestern Bell’s telephone company and cellular operations.

Bell Atlantic reported earnings of $298 million, or 70 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared to $325 million, or 77 cents, for the same quarter last year.

The results reflect charges totaling $56 million to pay for one-time costs from the company’s merger with Metro Mobile CTS Inc. and for debt refinancing. Without these charges, earnings would have been up almost 9%.

The Philadelphia-based corporation posted revenue of $3.15 billion, up slightly from last year’s $3.13 billion.