With respect to our IP video service, we continue to work with our vendors to develop, in a timely manner, the requisite technology. We also continue to negotiate with programming owners (e.g., movie studios and cable networks) for permission to offer existing television programs and movies and, if applicable, other new interactive services that we could offer in the future using advances in the IP technology we are testing. Our ability to provide an attractive and profitable video offering will depend in large part on the results of these efforts.
We believe that our planned deployment is subject to federal oversight as an “information service” under the Federal Communications Act. However, some cable providers and municipalities have claimed that certain IP service should be treated as a traditional cable service and therefore subject to the applicable state and local regulation, which could include the requirement to pay fees to obtain local franchises for our IP video service. If the courts were to decide that state and local regulation were applicable to our Project Lightspeed services, it could have a material adverse effect on the cost, timing and extent of our deployment plans.
SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Dollars in Millions except per share amounts
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
We had $406 in cash and cash equivalents available at June 30, 2005. Cash and cash equivalents included cash of approximately $292, money market funds of $42 and other cash equivalents of $72. The decline in cash and cash equivalents of $354 since December 31, 2004 was due to cash used to meet the financing needs of the business including, but not limited to, payment of operating expenses, funding capital expenditures, dividends to stockholders, repayment of debt, increased tax deposits and payments and the decrease in cash related to the payment of our liability associated with our discontinued operations. This decline was partially offset primarily by cash receipts from operations and cash received from Cingular. We discuss many of these factors in detail below.
Cash from Operating Activities
During the first six months of 2005 our primary source of funds was cash from operating activities of $5,040 as compared to $5,691 for the first six months of 2004. This decline was primarily due to increased tax payments of approximately $1,041 for the first six months of 2005 reduced by retirement benefit funding of $232 in 2004. The 2005 tax payments included amounts related to prior year accrued liabilities. The timing of cash payments for income taxes, which is governed by the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing jurisdictions, will differ from the timing of recording tax expense and deferred income taxes, which are reported in accordance with GAAP. We also made advance tax payments, which we consider to be a refundable deposit, to a certain state jurisdiction. These payments were made in order to avoid potentially onerous interest and penalties. The issues involved are in dispute and we intend to pursue all procedural options available to us in order to obtain refunds of the amounts deposited. For calendar year 2005, we do not expect our cash payments for taxes to exceed our reported income tax expense.
During the first six months of 2004 our primary sources of funds were cash from operating activities of $5,691 and proceeds of $5,179 primarily from the sale of non-strategic international investments.
Cash from Investing Activities
For the first six months of 2005, cash used for investing activities consisted of:
• | $2,329 in construction and capital expenditures; and |
• | $169 related to the acquisition of Yantra Corp., a provider of distributed order management and supply chain fulfillment solutions. |
Capital expenditures in the wireline segment, which represented substantially all of our total capital expenditures, increased by approximately 8.6% for the first six months of 2005 as compared to the same period in 2004. In response to an improving federal regulatory environment and competition, we announced our Project Lightspeed initiative (see “Other Business Matters”) and expect to spend approximately $4,000 through 2008 in deployment costs and $1,000 in customer-activation capital expenditures beginning in 2006 through the first half of 2008. We expect total capital spending for 2005 to be at the low end of our targeted range of $5,400 to $5,700, excluding Cingular, substantially all of which we expect to relate to our wireline segment primarily for our wireline subsidiaries’ networks, Project Lightspeed and support systems for our long-distance service. We expect to continue to fund these expenditures using cash from operations and incremental borrowings, depending on interest rate levels and overall market conditions. The international segment should be self-funding as it consists
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JUNE 30, 2005
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Dollars in Millions except per share amounts
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES - Continued
substantially of equity investments and not direct SBC operations. We expect to fund any directory segment capital expenditures using cash from operations. We discuss our Cingular segment below.
For the first six months of 2005, cash provided by our investing activities consisted of:
• | approximately $1,182 in accordance with the terms of our agreement with Cingular and BellSouth. See our “Cingular” section below for details; |
• | $98 related to maturities of other held-to-maturity securities, which have maturities greater than 90 days; |
• | $86 primarily from the sale of shares of Amdocs, Yahoo and the sale of our entire interest in SpectraSite; and |
• | $37 related to the repayment of a note receivable from an international investment. |
Cash from Financing Activities
We paid cash dividends of $2,130 for the first six months of 2005 compared to $2,069 for the first six months of 2004. The $61 increase was due to an increase in the regular quarterly dividend from $0.3125 to $0.3225 per share approved by our Board of Directors in December 2004. On June 24, 2005, our Board of Directors declared a second quarter dividend of $0.3225 per share, which was paid on August 1, 2005. Our dividend policy considers both the expectations and requirements of stockholders, internal requirements of SBC and long-term growth opportunities. All dividends remain subject to approval by our Board of Directors.
During the first half of 2005 we used our available excess cash primarily to reduce our debt levels. In the first six months of 2005 we repaid $1,037 of our long-term debt maturities, of which approximately $786 related to debt maturities with interest rates ranging from 6.25% to 9.50%; $238 related to the exercise of a put on our 5.95% notes originally maturing in 2038; and $13 related to scheduled principal payments on other debt. Funds from operations were primarily used to repay these notes.
In July 2005, we redeemed approximately $809 of callable debt primarily by issuing commercial paper and with cash from operations. Additionally, we will repay $300 of long-term debt scheduled to mature for the remainder of 2005 with cash from operations. For the second half of 2005, we expect to shift our emphasis on using available excess cash from reducing our long-term debt to examining opportunities to repurchase shares of SBC common stock under our repurchase program.
Our consolidated commercial paper borrowings totaled approximately $3,515 at June 30, 2005. All of these commercial paper borrowings are due within 90 days.
In June 2005, a subsidiary of SBC received proceeds of approximately $234 from a registered offering of 10,000,000 shares of SBC’s common stock.
We have a 3-year credit agreement totaling $6,000 with a syndicate of banks, which expires on October 18, 2007. Advances under this agreement may be used for general corporate purposes, including support of commercial
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Dollars in Millions except per share amounts
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES - Continued
paper borrowings and other short-term borrowings. There is no material adverse change provision governing the drawdown of advances under this credit agreement. We are in compliance with all covenants under the agreement. We had no borrowings outstanding under committed lines of credit as of June 30, 2005.
At June 30, 2005, our debt ratio was 38.3% compared to our debt ratio of 31% at June 30, 2004. The increase was primarily due to additional debt of $8,750 we issued in the fourth quarter of 2004 to fund our portion of Cingular’s acquisition of AT&T Wireless.
In December 2003, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 350 million shares of SBC common stock; this authorization expires at the end of 2008. During the second quarter of 2005, we repurchased 10 million shares at a cost of approximately $235.
Pending Acquisition of AT&T
On January 30, 2005, we agreed to acquire AT&T in a transaction in which each share of AT&T common stock will be exchanged for 0.77942 of a share of SBC common stock (equivalent to approximately 19% of SBC’s outstanding shares as of June 30, 2005). In addition, immediately prior to the closing of the transaction, AT&T will pay each AT&T shareholder a special dividend of $1.30 per share. Based on the closing price of SBC common stock on January 28, 2005, the exchange ratio equals $18.41 per share and the total transaction is valued, for purchase accounting purposes, at approximately $16,000, including the special dividend. After the acquisition, AT&T will be a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of each company and was also approved on June 30, 2005 by the shareholders of AT&T. The transaction is subject to review by the DOJ and approval by the FCC and various other regulatory authorities. We expect the transaction to close by late 2005. See “Other Business Matters” for more details.
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Dollars in Millions except per share amounts
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES - Continued
Cingular
Effective August 1, 2004, we and BellSouth agreed to finance Cingular’s capital and operating cash requirements to the extent Cingular requires funding above the level provided by operations. We and BellSouth also entered into a one-year revolving credit agreement with Cingular to provide short-term financing for operations on a pro rata basis at an interest rate of LIBOR (London Interbank Offer Rate) plus 0.05% and may be renewed annually upon agreement of the parties. In June 2005 this agreement was renewed through July 31, 2007. This agreement includes a provision for the repayment of our and BellSouth’s shareholder loans made to Cingular in the event there are no outstanding amounts due under the revolving credit agreement and to the extent Cingular has excess cash, as defined by the agreement. During the first six months of 2005, we received net repayments totaling approximately $1,182 from Cingular in accordance with the terms of this revolving credit agreement. Our share of advances to Cingular related to this revolving credit agreement was approximately $0 at June 30, 2005 and $1,002 at December 31, 2004 and was reflected in “Investments in and Advances to Cingular Wireless” on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.
The remaining $180 of Cingular’s revolving credit repayments, mentioned above, for the first six months of 2005 were applied as a reduction to our shareholder loan to Cingular, which totaled approximately $5,675 at June 30, 2005 and $5,855 at December 31, 2004. In July 2005, we received additional net repayments totaling approximately $1,179 from Cingular in accordance with the terms of this revolving credit agreement. Since there were no outstanding amounts due under this agreement, this $1,179 was also applied as a reduction on our shareholder loan to Cingular in July 2005.
The upgrade, integration and expansion of the Cingular and AT&T Wireless networks and the networks acquired in a transaction with Triton PCS Holdings, Inc. will require substantial amounts of capital over the next several years. Cingular expects to fund its capital requirements for at least the next 12 months from existing cash balances, cash generated from operations and, if necessary, drawing under the revolving credit agreement with us and BellSouth, mentioned previously. As of June 30, 2005, Cingular has spent $3,159 primarily for GSM/GPRS/EDGE network upgrades with cash from operations, dispositions and, as needed, the revolving credit agreement mentioned previously.
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
At June 30, 2005, we had interest rate swaps with a notional value of $4,250 and a fair value of approximately $106.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
The registrant maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the registrant is recorded, processed, summarized, accumulated and communicated to its management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure, and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms. The chief executive officer and chief financial officer have performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2005. Based on that evaluation, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of June 30, 2005.
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information set forth in this report contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially. We claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The following factors could cause our future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements:
• | Adverse economic changes in the markets served by us or in countries in which we have significant investments. |
• | Changes in available technology and the effects of such changes including product substitutions and deployment costs. |
• | Increases in our benefit plans’ costs including increases due to adverse changes in the U.S. securities markets, resulting in worse-than-assumed investment returns and discount rates, and adverse medical cost trends. |
• | The final outcome of Federal Communications Commission proceedings and reopenings of such proceedings and judicial review, if any, of such proceedings, including issues relating to access charges, broadband deployment, availability and pricing of unbundled network elements and platforms (UNE-Ps) and unbundled loop and transport elements (EELs). |
• | The final outcome of regulatory proceedings in our 13-state area and reopenings of such proceedings, and judicial review, if any, of such proceedings, including proceedings relating to interconnection terms, access charges, universal service, UNE-Ps and resale and wholesale rates, broadband deployment including Project Lightspeed, performance measurement plans, service standards and traffic compensation. |
• | Enactment of additional state, federal and/or foreign regulatory and tax laws and regulations pertaining to our subsidiaries and foreign investments. |
• | Our ability to absorb revenue losses caused by increasing competition, including offerings using alternative technologies (e.g., cable, wireless and VoIP) and UNE-P requirements, and to maintain capital expenditures. |
• | The extent of competition in our 13-state area and the resulting pressure on access line totals and wireline and wireless operating margins. |
• | Our ability to develop attractive and profitable product/service offerings to offset increasing competition in our wireline and wireless markets. |
• | The ability of our competitors to offer product/service offerings at lower prices due to lower cost structures and adverse regulatory and legislative actions, including state regulatory proceedings relating to UNE-Ps and nonregulation of comparable alternative technologies (e.g., VoIP). |
• | The timing, extent and cost of deployment of our Project Lightspeed broadband initiative, the development of attractive and profitable service offerings, the extent to which regulatory, franchise fees and build-out requirements apply to this initiative and the availability and reliability of the various technologies required to provide such offerings. |
• | The issuance by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting oversight bodies of new accounting standards or changes to existing standards. |
• | The issuance by the Internal Revenue Service and/or state tax authorities of new tax regulations or changes to existing standards and actions by federal, state or local tax agencies and judicial authorities with respect to applying applicable tax laws and regulations; and the resolution of disputes with any taxing jurisdictions. |
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - Continued
• | The impact of the wireless joint venture with BellSouth, known as Cingular, including marketing and product-development efforts, customer acquisition and retention costs, access to additional spectrum, network upgrades, technological advancements, industry consolidation including the acquisition of AT&T Wireless and availability and cost of capital. |
• | Cingular’s failure to achieve, in the amounts and within the timeframe expected, the capital and expense synergies and other benefits expected from its acquisition of AT&T Wireless. |
• | The impact of our pending acquisition of AT&T, including our ability to obtain governmental approvals of the acquisition on the proposed terms and schedule; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; the risk that the cost savings and any other synergies from the acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; disruption from the acquisition making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; and competition and its effect on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues. |
• | Changes in our corporate strategies, such as changing network requirements or acquisitions and dispositions, to respond to competition and regulatory, legislative and technological developments. |
Readers are cautioned that other factors discussed in this report, although not mentioned here, also could materially impact our future earnings.
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Securities and Use of Proceeds
(a) | During the second quarter of 2005, non-employee directors acquired from SBC shares of common stock pursuant to SBC’s Non-Employee Director Stock and Deferral Plan. Under the plan, a director may make an annual election to receive all or part of his or her: (1) annual retainer in the form of SBC shares or deferred stock units (DSUs) and (2) fees in the form of DSUs. DSUs are convertible into SBC shares. Also under the plan, each Director will receive an annual grant of DSUs during the second quarter. During this period, an aggregate of 68,080 SBC shares and DSUs were acquired by non-employee directors at prices ranging from $23.38 to $23.80, in each case the fair market value of the shares on the date of acquisition. The issuances of shares and DSUs were exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act. |
(c) | Issuer Equity Repurchases – In December 2003, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 350 million shares of SBC common stock; this authorization expires at the end of 2008. As part of this program, during the second quarter of 2005, we repurchased 10 million shares at a cost of approximately $235, as shown below. |
Purchase Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs |
April 29, 2005 – April 30, 2005 | 2,500,000 | $ 23.30 | 2,500,000 | 330,250,000 |
May 2, 2005 – May 4, 2005 | 7,500,000 | $ 23.56 | 7,500,000 | 322,750,000 |
Total | 10,000,000 | $ 23.49 | 10,000,000 | 322,750,000 |
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
Annual Meeting of Stockholders
(a) | The annual meeting of the stockholders of SBC Communications Inc. (SBC) was held on April 29, 2005, in San Antonio, Texas. Stockholders representing 2,740,587,249, or 82.96%, of the common shares outstanding as of the March 1, 2005 record date were present in person or were represented at the meeting by proxy. |
(b) | At the meeting, holders of common shares voted as indicated below to elect the following persons to the Board of Directors for a one-year term: |
DIRECTOR | SHARES FOR | SHARES WITHHELD* |
Edward E. Whitacre Jr. | 2,607,583,080 | 133,004,169 |
Gilbert F. Amelio | 2,635,763,699 | 104,823,550 |
August A. Busch III | 2,570,269,662 | 170,317,587 |
Martin K. Eby, Jr. | 2,626,863,207 | 113,724,042 |
James A. Henderson | 2,629,753,067 | 110,834,182 |
Charles F. Knight | 2,626,484,442 | 114,102,807 |
Lynn M. Martin | 2,631,876,705 | 108,710,544 |
John B. McCoy | 2,634,426,468 | 106,160,781 |
Mary S. Metz | 2,634,701,672 | 105,885,577 |
Toni Rembe | 2,566,908,773 | 173,678,476 |
S. Donley Ritchey | 2,634,806,896 | 105,780,353 |
Joyce M. Roche | 2,636,346,837 | 104,240,412 |
Laura D’Andrea Tyson | 2,637,574,188 | 103,013,061 |
Patricia P. Upton | 2,628,743,891 | 111,843,358 |
*Includes shares represented at the meeting by proxy where the shareowner withheld authority to vote for the indicated director or directors, as well as shares present at the meeting which were not voted for such director or directors.
In addition, the following two directors retired from the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting: |
The Honorable William P. Clark |
(c) | Stockholders ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as independent auditors of SBC for the year ended December 31, 2005. The vote was 2,652,218,492 FOR and 55,839,717 AGAINST, with 32,529,040 shares ABSTAINING. |
(d) | Stockholders approved the creation of a new stock purchase and deferral plan for SBC managers that replaces a similar plan created in 1991. The vote was 2,087,929,830 FOR and 126,214,080 AGAINST, with 47,793,009 ABSTAINING. |
(e) | Stockholders defeated a proposal seeking additional disclosure by the company of its corporate political contributions. The vote was 257,197,550 FOR and 1,800,373,769 AGAINST, with 204,365,600 ABSTAINING. |
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SBC COMMUNICATIONS INC.
JUNE 30, 2005
(f) | Stockholders defeated a proposal requesting a review of executive compensation. The vote was 266,455,867 FOR and 1,828,018,350 AGAINST, with 167,462,702 ABSTAINING. |
(g) | Stockholders defeated a proposal calling for adoption of a performance and time-based restricted share grant program for senior executives. The vote was 381,505,141 FOR and 1,814,595,780 AGAINST, with 65,835,998 ABSTAINING. |
(h) | Stockholders approved a proposal that would require a simple majority vote for matters put to a vote of SBC stockholders. The vote was 1,371,171,459 FOR and 823,202,525 AGAINST, with 67,562,935 ABSTAINING. |
Item 6. Exhibits
Exhibits identified in parenthesis below, on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are incorporated by reference as exhibits hereto. Unless otherwise indicated, all exhibits so incorporated are from File No. 1-8610.
10-bb | Amended And Restated Revolving Credit Agreement with Cingular Wireless LLC |
12 | Computation of Ratios of Earnings to Fixed Charges | |
31 | Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications | |
| 31.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer | |
| 31.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer | |
32 | Section 1350 Certifications | |
| | | | | | | | | |
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
August 4, 2005 | /s/ Richard G. Lindner | | |
| Richard G. Lindner | |
| Senior Executive Vice President |
| | | | |
and Chief Financial Officer