AT&T reported F2023 fourth quarter revenues of $32.0 billion, up 2.2% year over year. This increase primarily reflects higher Mobility, and to a lesser extent, Mexico and Consumer Wireline revenues, partly offset by continued declines in Business Wireline revenues.
Capital expenditures were $4.6 billion in the quarter. Capital investment*, which includes $1.0 billion of cash payments for vendor financing, totaled $5.6 billion.
Fourth quarter operating income was $5.3 billion, with adjusted operating income* of $5.8 billion; Full-year operating income of $23.5 billion, with adjusted operating income of $24.7 billion, up 5.0% year over year.
“We accomplished exactly what we said we would in 2023, delivering sustainable growth and consistent business performance, resulting in full-year free cash flow of $16.8 billion, ahead of our raised guidance. As we advance our lead in converged connectivity, we will continue to scale our best-in-class 5G and fiber networks to meet customers’ growing demand for seamless, ubiquitous broadband, and drive durable growth for shareholders,” said John Stankey, AT&T CEO.
Some highlights
- Full-year Mobility service revenues up 4.4%, above guidance; company’s best-ever full-year
- Mobility operating income. Full-year consumer broadband revenues up 8.1%, above guidance; driven by full-year
- AT&T Fiber revenue growth of 26.6%. 526,000 postpaid phone net adds in the fourth quarter; more than 1.7 million for the full-year 2023 with historically low churn levels and continued strong ARPU growth.
- Postpaid churn was 1.01%, consistent with the year-ago quarter.
- Postpaid phone-only ARPU was $56.23, up 1.4% versus the year-ago quarter, due to a mix shift to higher-priced unlimited plans and pricing actions.
- 273,000 AT&T Fiber net adds in the fourth quarter; 1.1 million net adds for full-year 2023, 16 straight quarters with more than 200,000 net adds; sixth straight year with 1 million or more AT&T Fiber net adds.
- Business Wireline revenues were $5.1 billion, down 10.3% year over year due to lower demand for legacy voice and data services and product simplification, partly offset by growth in connectivity services.
- AT&T’s Total debt was $137.3 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, and net debt was $128.9 billion.