Verizon CFO says happy with Q2 so far
(For other news from the Reuters Global Technology Summit, click here)
(Adds comment on acquisitions, growth, share price update)
By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) Chief Financial Officer John Killian said he is happy with growth trends so far in the second quarter and he expects 2009 to be a good year for revenue and cash flow growth.
Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York on Wednesday, Killian also said the economy is stabilizing and may recover this year and into 2010.
"I think we've seen some stabilization in terms of the current situation with the economy. We really don't see it get a lot worse but we haven't seen it pick up at this point," Killian said. "I think we're going to have a good 2009," he added.
Without giving specific revenue, earnings or cash flow forecasts for this quarter or the year, Killian said he expected continued growth.
"We're satisfied with the trends we're seeing in our growth metrics as we start the quarter," said the executive, who become CFO in March after serving as president of Verizon's enterprise business.
Once the economy recovers, Verizon will see a more noticeable improvement in its enterprise business, which dropped 5 percent in the first quarter, Killian said. The consumer business has held up better in the weak economy.
Killian hopes the enterprise segment, which had about $20 billion in revenue in 2008, could grow 1 or 2 percentage points faster than global gross domestic product (GDP) as economies recover.
"On the consumer side, we won't see as big a benefit as
(the economy) comes back. On the business side we will," he said.
Asked about whether Verizon had any interest in buying long-distance network assets being offered for sale by Qwest Communications International Q.N, Killian implied strongly that Verizon was not about to embark on such as deal.
"We're very satisfied with the global network that we have. We think we're in a very good position with that network," he said, adding that Verizon is building or working with partners on network expansion in countries such as India and China.
"Based on where we see enterprises and activity moving, we'll add some network capability, but we don't need to do that through an acquisition," he said.
Asked about Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone, sold exclusively by rival network AT&T Inc (T.N) in the United States, Killian declined to comment on Verizon's talks with Apple.
He said Verizon is "very satisfied" with its phone lineup.
(For summit blog: blogs.reuters.com/summits/)
(For more on Reuters Global Technology Summit, see [nLI040240]
(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Derek Caney)
((ritsuko.ando@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6180; Reuters Messaging: ritsuko.ando.reuters.com@reuters.net))
For Reuters MediaFile blog see blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/ Keywords: TECH SUMMIT/VERIZON
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