Debt-Ridden CenturyLink Should Follow Frontier And Slash Its Dividend [telecom]

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This is from the "Seeking Alpha" site. There's no byline, but the site shows the "Contributor" as "EFS Investment".

February 27, 2012 Debt-Ridden CenturyLink Should Follow Frontier And Slash Its Dividend

Debt Issue

While CenturyLink's balance sheet shows significant assets, the company's debt load has been growing rapidly. A year ago, CenturyLink's current liabilities amounted to $1 billion. However, this quadrupled, reaching $4 billion by the end of 2011.

Long-term debt of $21 billion is another scary factor on the balance sheet. Once we include other liabilities, we get a huge number of $35 billion in total liabilities. The balance sheet shows a total asset valuation of $56 billion. However, that is not enough to cover the liabilities since CenturyLink's balance sheet includes 'good will' of $21.724 billion. Excluding this intangible, the company's existing assets barely match its overall liabilities.