Windstream Sees 29% Decrease in Profit

Telephone and broadband provider Windstream(WIN Quote) announced today that its first-quarter earnings declined 29%, hurt by a slide in revenue and extra costs for pensions and other one-time items.

During the quarter, the company earned $88.2 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $123.7 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 24 cents a share, beating expectations by a penny.

Revenue fell 6% to $755 million from $800 million a year ago.

The company said it added about 31,000 high-speed Internet customers during the quarter, bringing the total to more than 1 million.

Its digital satellite television customers grew by 21,000 to roughly 295,000. But as a result of customers increasingly relying solely on cell phones, Windstream lost about 44,000 land lines, lowering its total to just under 3 million.

The company expects to generate between $705 million and $775 million in free cash flow during the year after a bigger-than-anticipated tax benefit.

Shares of the company rose 3% to $9.01 in morning trading.

Last week Verizon(VZ Quote) reported better-than-expected quarterly results on the heels of strong numbers from AT&T(T Quote) and Research in Motion(RIMM Quote).