Verizon boosted its full year outlook despite declines in earnings during Q3, with CFO Matt Ellis (pictured) highlighting a better-than-expected performance from its mobile business.

On an earnings call, Ellis said the unit recovered from prior Covid-19 (coronavirus) hits “faster than we initially anticipated”, primarily due to accelerated uptake of high-cost unlimited tariffs.

He noted 60 per cent of the operator’s base was now on unlimited plans, with a quarter of those on its most expensive offers. The operator expects the launch of 5G iPhones to boost upgrades to these packages in the remainder of the year.

The operator forecast 2 per cent growth in wireless service revenue in Q4, and upped its full year EPS outlook to between 0 per cent and 2 per cent, from a previous prediction in the range of -2 per cent to 2 per cent.

It also predicted full year capex to fall at the high end of a previously stated $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion range, with Ellis noting the operator continues to deploy fibre and small cells at a “tremendous pace”.

Mobile service revenue in Q3 was flat year-on-year at $16.4 billion, with equipment sales down 20 per cent to $4.1 billion.

Profit attributable to Verizon fell 16.1 per cent to $4.35 billion, with consolidatated revenue down 4.1 per cent to $31.5 billion, its third consecutive quarterly decline.

It added 630,000 mobile subscribers, including 553,000 post-paid and 77,000 prepaid, compared with net additions of 524,000 in Q3 2019.