Verizon Communications Inc.’s pension fund contributed two-thirds of the company’s operating income before interest and taxes in 2001, according to its latest annual report. The New York-based company had pension income of $1.85 billion on earnings of $2.77 billion before interest and taxes.
Robert Varettoni, a company spokesman, said Verizon prefers to look at its adjusted financial results, and on that basis, the company reported 26.8% of its bottom line is attributable to its pension income — $2.2 billion on income of $8.2 billion. "Unadjusted results do not provide, in our view, an accurate barometer for measuring the ongoing operations of our business,” he said.
An investment analyst, who did not wish to be identified, disagreed, saying it is more meaningful for investors to pay attention to pension income as a percentage of unadjusted operating income.
Verizon faces at its April 24 annual meeting a shareholder proposal seeking to exclude pension income from computations of performance-based executive compensation. The company opposes the resolution.
