Windstream Q2 Results Miss Estimates After REIT Spin-off Approval

Windstream Holdings reported earnings on Thursday, a week after announcing the approval of their spin-off of telecommunication network assets to a real estate investment trust. Earnings of 2 cents a share were below estimates of 9 cents a share. In the same period last year, Windstream earned 6 cents a share. Revenue of $1.47 billion was roughly on target with estimates and only slightly below sales for the same quarter last year. On July 29th, Windstream announced that they will be creating a REIT that will own assets like the fiber-optic and copper cables so that Windstream will pay rent on those assets and in doing so will decrease their debt by roughly $3.2 billion and save around $100 million in taxes each year. Whalen MacHale reports for TheStreet from New York.