Frontier Communications Plunges On Q4 Results; Dividend Cut

Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FTR) released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Thursday. The company reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $42.2 million or $0.04 per share, compared to $46.0 million or $0.05 per share, in the year ago quarter. On an adjusted basis, which is comparable to analysts' consensus, Frontier reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $69.0 million or $0.07 per share. This compared to Wall Street analysts consensus EPS estimates of $0.05. Revenues for the quarter were $1.28 billion versus $1.36 billion in last year's fourth quarter. This came in slightly ahead of Street estimates of $1.27 billion. In addition, FTR announced it was cutting its quarterly dividend to $0.10 from $0.19. Chief Executive Maggie Wilderotter said, "Frontier's Board of Directors also made the decision to lower the quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share. This will enable Frontier to reduce debt, improve our leverage, have ample cash to invest in the network and other strategic initiatives, and to provide a more sustainable shareholder return through a lower dividend payout ratio."In Thursday's after hours trading session, FTR shares were last trading down 5.61% to $4.21 after being down as much as 10% immediately following the report.