Lumen Technologies shares slide after posting loss of nearly $9 billion

(Reuters) – Lumen Technologies reported a massive quarterly net loss of $8.74 billion on Tuesday, hurt by an impairment charge of nearly $9 billion in the second quarter.

Shares of the Monroe, Louisiana-based company, which has lost more than 61% of their value this year, dropped more than 8% in trading after the bell.

The company, whose second-quarter loss was more than four times its $2 billion market capitalization, recorded a steep fall from a profit of $344 million a year ago.

Lumen said it recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $8.8 billion in the quarter, triggered by a sustained decline in their share price and variance in the market valuation in the April-June period.

The telecommunication services company has been experiencing continued weakness along with massive debt, while a decline in traditional internet services has hurt its top-line growth.

The company said its long-term debt at the end of the second quarter was $19.9 billion, down from $20.42 billion, at the end of last year.

Lumen is undergoing a tedious digital transformation process as it tries to navigate digitizing its operations in an already inflation-hit and competitive economy.

It still has a long way to see satisfactory profitability as it faces stiff competition from wireless carrier.

Lumen also shuttered its non-value adding businesses, a move which while being positive to its long-term growth, is affecting its near-term results.

Revenue in the second quarter stood at $3.66 billion, narrowly missing analysts’ average estimate of $3.67 billion, according to Refinitiv data.