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

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A street sign marks Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo Aug 1 (Reuters) - Lumen Technologies (LUMN.N) 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. Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.