'Phone Bill Lies' > Which is it?

Which is it?

Actually, they are. But remember, declared profits mean extra taxes, so, the goal is to make tons of money but look like you're only breaking even.

reply to IanR
Union workers and mismanagement.

reply to KrK

said by KrK:

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Actually, they are. But remember, declared profits mean extra taxes, so, the goal is to make tons of money but look like you're only breaking even.

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How is that a conspiracy theory? It's perfectly valid business to try and minimize reported earnings in order to reduce the tax burden. There are obvious drawbacks to that strategy, but it's still a valid strategy.
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Jimmysquid.com - I take pictures.

reply to Alpine
Most sheeple like you do go right after the conspiracy stuff, but in reality you know its the truth.

Did or did not SBC make $8 billion last year?

They made it, but that doesn't mean they get to keep it. They still have to pay every worker, heat and cool every building they own, pay creditors etc. Just like you. That was before taxes etc.

No, that was after everything. Their 2003 net income was $8.5 billion after all those expenses. However that includes about $2.5 billion due to accounting changes so a more accurate number is $6B. Still, I'd say that SBC is indeed "rolling in profits".
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Jimmysquid.com - I take pictures.

reply to jsouth
You're mistaken. The $8 billion was before taxes but it was not before payroll, utilities or loan payments. Their gross revenue was $40 billion, from which they paid their operating expenses. Net income, after tax, was $5.9 billion.

»www.hoovers.com/sbc-communicatio···al.xhtml

Those poor, poor people. Only $5.9 billion. How will they feed their children?

reply to Alpine
Conspiracy Theorists?

Are you crazy? Hiding income is considered accepted business practice. Even so, because Bells are publicly traded, they must release some numbers.... which show that profits are indeed excellent.

SBC reported profits slipped slightly for 1Q 2004, caused by people disconnecting traditional POTS lines. However, they also reported amazing growth in DSL subscriber lines, and new Long Distance service sales to customers, so future expectations look very rosy.

Also, they apparently paid down several billion dollars in debt, which is a good thing, but makes earnings look less impressive..... (IE 5 billion in after expenses-revenue looks worse when you chose to pay an extra 3 billion out to reduce debts, and then announce only 2 billion in final revenue)

Simply put, the Bells are doing great, Thank you very much.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!)

They're probably part of the 60% of corps that didn't pay any taxes as well.

reply to jsouth

said by jsouth:

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They made it, but that doesn't mean they get to keep it. They still have to pay every worker, heat and cool every building they own, pay creditors etc. Just like you. That was before taxes etc.

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reply to IanR

said by IanR:

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How come all the Baby Bells are not rolling in massive profits then? Are their intrinsic high costs which need to be recovered or are they so badly managed?

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