Verizon to Take Quarterly Charge of Up to $1.9 Billion for Severance

(Bloomberg) — Verizon Communications Inc. will take a pre-tax charge of as much as $1.9 billion in the third quarter tied to 4,800 planned job cuts.

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The biggest US mobile carrier said it announced a voluntary separation program for some US-based management positions in June. Over half of the employees concerned will exit in September and the rest by the end of March, according according to a securities filing Thursday.

As part of other continuing restructuring initiatives, Verizon said it plans to cease use of some real estate assets and exit non-strategic portions of certain businesses. As a result, the company expects to record pre-tax charges of $230 million to $380 million in the third quarter.

Verizon and its US telecommunications company peers have been spending heavily to bulk up on fiber-optic assets while growth in mobile subscribers slows. Last week Verizon agreed to pay $9.6 billion for Frontier Communications Parent, adding 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states. The deal, valued at $20 billion including Frontier’s net debt, was the biggest for Verizon in more than a decade.

The company is also exploring selling thousands of mobile-phone towers across the country to raise cash. A sale could bring in more than $3 billion, Bloomberg has reported.

In July, Verizon reported second-quarter operating revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as fewer people upgraded wireless equipment. The shares were down less than 1% to $43.46 Thursday morning in New York. they are up 15% this year.

(Updates with context on business strategy from fourth paragraph.)