AT&T posts slight beat in 4th-qtr earnings

By Malathi Nayak

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - AT&T Inc on Tuesday reported earnings and quarterly revenue that slightly beat Wall Street expectations as its mobile device deals attracted more customers.

The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier posted a net loss of $4 billion, or 77 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with net income $6.9 billion, or $1.31 per share, a year ago.

Shares in AT&T were up 2 percent in after-hours trading after closing at $32.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.

AT&T said it had added more than 2 million new wireless customers and 854,000 contract subscribers in the quarter.

The company said postpaid churn, or the rate of customer defections, rose to 1.22 percent and average revenue per phone user declined 10.7 percent from a year earlier.

Excluding items, AT&T earned 55 cents per share, a penny more than analysts' forecasts.

Revenue rose to $34.4 billion from $33.16 billion in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected $34.27 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak)