Verizon misses by a penny

Verizon (VZ) posted first-quarter numbers that were just shy of Wall Street’s expectations. The New York-based phone giant made $1.64 billion, or 57 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, up from the year-ago $1.5 billion, or 51 cents a share. Excluding unusual items, latest-quarter earnings were 61 cents a share, a penny less than Bloomberg’s consensus estimate. Revenue rose 5.5% from a year ago, to $23.8 billion, matching the average analyst projection.

Revenue in Verizon’s landline phone business fell 1.4% from a year ago, to $12.3 billion, while revenue at Verizon Wireless rose 13% to $11.7 billion. Verizon Wireless added 1.5 million retail customers in the quarter, including 1.3 million of the lucrative retail postpaid customers Wall Street tracks so closely. Churn, reflecting customer defections, was 1.19% in the latest quarter, Verizon said. The news comes as the company takes customers from cable system operators such as Comcast (CMCSA) and Cablevision (CVC) by selling cable, Internet and telephone service on one line via its fiber-to-the-home FiOS offering.

“Verizon has weathered the current economic uncertainty with strong first-quarter results,” said CEO Ivan Seidenberg. “I am also confident of our position over the long term because we have further opportunities to drive revenue growth and further opportunities to eliminate costs.”