AT&T earnings reach $3.1b in Q4

AT&T, the largest US telecommunications company, earned $3.1 billion during the fourth quarter on gains in its wireless business and growth in its broadband internet sales, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report said the results that quarter did not include the earnings of BellSouth because AT&T's takeover wasn't completed until final days of the period.

Revenue in the fourth quarter nearly doubled to $30.35 billion from $15.9 billion in the previous year, but most of the growth came from the takeover of BellSouth, the report said.

The company earned $11.95 billion in 2007, amounting to $1.95 per share. In the previous year, the company earned $7.36 billion, or $1.89 per share, it added.

The massive integration of the old BellSouth and Cingular Wireless, which had been a joint venture by AT&T and BellSouth, is on schedule and cost savings continue to be better than initially expected, the Associated Press report said.

AT&T also reaffirmed its previous earnings growth guidance for 2008, the report further said.