Frontier Communications
The company explained that difference by saying that excluding a one-time charge of $12.4 million in pension-related costs, and the $6.5 million it paid out for severance and early retirements, the EPS would have been $0.05. But there's more to it than that. Revenues had decreased 1.2% over the previous quarter to $1.27 billion, down 5.8% over the same period last year.
Last month, Frontier had also encouraged the analysts' Pollyanna view by announcing it had completed integrating the Verizon
But with Frontier's less-than-stellar earnings report, those investors -- many mainly in it for the company's large dividend -- should be a little nervous about that dividend's continuation, at least at its present level. It's a rightful concern, as the present dividend was almost twice its current size before the company made the hard, but financially correct, decision to lower it at the end of the previous quarter.
To counter that concern, the company calculates that its dividend-to-free-cash-flow ratio works out to 39%, which isn't bad. However Frontier made a special note in its earnings statement that to reach its FCF figure of $253 million, it added back the severance and pension numbers noted above. It also added back into "Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities," income tax expense, and integration costs. As for capital expenditures to subtract from the net cash figure, it did not include what it called "Capital expenditures -- Integration activities."
Using the free cash flow equation I believe most people use when looking at an earnings statement -- net cash from operating activities minus capital expenditures -- I come up with free cash flow of $158 million. That number changes the dividend-to-free-cash-flow ratio to 63%.
Frontier is well aware that its biggest draw for investors has been its dividend, so that payout ratio is one of the first things shareholders will look at. I am not an accountant, but this seems to me like the company is using this non-GAAP free cash flow equation to come up with a dividend payout ratio that will quell dividend nervousness.
Download the SEC filing and check it yourselves. If I am wrong about this, please let me know in the comments section below.
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