Telefonos de Venezuela's 1st-Qtr Net Drops 74% as Revenue Falls

Caracas, May 8 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, the country's largest telephone company, said its first- quarter net income dropped 74 percent as a nationwide strike and recession slashed revenue.

Income totaled 10.5 billion bolivars ($7 million), or 94 bolivars an American depositary receipt, compared with year-ago profit of 39.8 billion bolivars, or 354 bolivars an ADR.

Nacional Telefonos said revenue from operations fell 10.4 percent to 648.2 billion bolivars from 723.4 billion bolivars.

The company, which is 28.5 percent-owned by Verizon Communications Inc., said total financial debt fell 14 percent to 393.1 billion bolivars. The company made debt payments of 66.5 billion bolivars during the quarter.

Data revenue rose 45 percent, while Internet revenue rose 20 percent. Wireless subscribers fell 0.8 percent during the quarter. Last Updated: May 8, 2003 08:15 EDT