WorldCom riding financial wave

Jackson, Miss. - WorldCom, Inc., the "shopaholic" telecommunications carrier, has posted first-quarter revenue of $2.35 billion, a 38% increase over the $1.7 billion reported in last year's first quarter.

WorldCom attributed its strong revenue growth to increased demand for domestic private line and data services as well as for international and Internet services. Revenue from each of these services grew by more than 20% compared with last year's first-quarter results. Traffic volume increased 38% over last year's first-quarter traffic.

Despite ongoing criticism from some industry watchers regarding WorldCom's pending $37 billion acquisition of MCI Communications Corp., WorldCom appears to be riding a strong financial wave.

The carrier posted first-quarter earnings of $193 million, nearly eight times the $25 million earned in the first quarter last year.

However, the earnings figure for this year's first quarter does not take into account charges related to WorldCom's purchase of competitive local exchange carrier Brooks Fiber Properties, Inc. and several other transactions. Charges for Brooks Fiber alone were $69 million in the first quarter.

Despite the federal government's investigation into WorldCom's pending acquisition of MCI, the companies expect to finalize the deal by mid-year. Most analysts doubt the deal will be complete before year-end.

Sykes is a correspondent with IDG News Services Boston bureau.

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