US telecoms company Verizon announces $4.6bn writedown on Oath business

US telecoms giant Verizon Communications will announce a writedown of up to $6.7bn (£5.35bn) in the fourth quarter on the value of its Oath media business and redundancy programme costs.

Oath, which was formed after the merger of AOL and Yahoo in 2017, has seen a deterioration in sales and revenue leading to a $4.6bn non-cash goodwill impairment charge, the company announced yesterday.

In a regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission the company said: “Verizon’s Media business, branded Oath, has experienced increased competitive and market pressures throughout 2018 that have resulted in lower than expected revenues and earnings.

“These pressures are expected to continue and have resulted in a loss of market positioning to our competitors in the digital advertising business.

“Oath has also achieved lower than expected benefits from the integration of the Yahoo Inc. and AOL Inc. businesses.”

Verizon, which is aiming to make around 10,400 employees redundant, will also be hit with a charge of between $1.8bn and $2.1bn connected to the voluntary redundancy programme.