Cingular returns to profitability

The first quarter of 2005 wasn’t one Cingular will be looking to repeat, or even remember. They lost $240 million. What a difference a year can make. Their first quarter this year ended with a profit of $354 million. Revenue year-to-year was up 9% from $8.23 billion to $8.9 billion. They added 1.7 million net subscribers in the quarter, bringing their total to 55.8 million.

If you are one of those people that need to find a dark lining in any silver cloud, here’s something you can sink your teeth into. The average revenue per customer fell to $48.48, which is down 2.3% from last year in the same quarter. Still, the company has managed to cut customer churn (the customers that leave for another carrier) in the quarter.

It could be one of the last financial reports we hear from Cingular. The company is a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth, but AT&T is awaiting approval for a $67 billion purchase of BellSouth. If that is approved (which is very likely), the Cingular name will be phased out.