UPDATE: Verizon Posts Higher Q4 Revenue

reported a rise in its revenue in the fourth quarter. The New York-based company posted a quarterly loss of $2.15 billion, or $0.54 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $7.92 billion, or $1.76 per share. Excluding items, the company earned $0.71 per share. Its revenue gained 6.8% to $33.2 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.72 per share on revenue of $32.69 billion. Verizon Wireless added 2.1 million retail net connections in the fourth quarter. At the end of the year, Verizon had 108.2 million retail connections. During the quarter, Verizon added 145,000 net new FiOS Internet connections and 116,000 net new FiOS Video connections. Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam said: "Verizon posted another year of consistently high operating and financial performance in 2014, with strong cash generation and the return of $7.8 billion to our shareowners. I am confident that Verizon's assets and market momentum position us to continue to drive profitable growth in 2015." Verizon shares fell 0.73% to $47.90 in pre-market trading.