Cincinnati Bell net increases 53 percent, excluding gains.

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 1996--Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CSN) today announced record revenues and earnings for the quarter and first half ended June 30, led by strong growth at CBIS and MATRIXX Marketing.

Cincinnati Bell said that for the second quarter, revenues increased 13 percent to $376 million, and net income excluding settlement gains increased 53 percent to $41.3 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a year ago.

Operating income excluding settlement gains increased 23 percent to $69 million for the quarter, up from $56.3 million. That yielded an operating margin of 18.4 percent for the second quarter, up from 16.9 percent a year ago.

"Severe storms with heavy rain kept Cincinnati Bell Telephone's repair crews busy and raised costs a little in the spring, but our non-telephone businesses performed well enough to give us another excellent quarter," John LaMacchia, President and Chief Executive Officer, said. "CBIS and MATRIXX Marketing each increased revenues by 20 percent or more, and CBIS's operating income rose more than 50 percent."

For the first half of 1996, Cincinnati Bell's net income was $79.5 million, or $1.16 per share, excluding $7 million in settlement gains. First-half revenues increased 11 percent to $738.1 million.

Second-quarter and first-half results included non-cash settlement gains linked to lump-sum pension payments to employees retiring under incentive offers. The gains added $3.5 million, or 5 cents a share for the quarter, and $7 million, or 10 cents per share for the first half. The gains will continue into 1997.

Cincinnati Bell's net income including settlement gains was $44.8 million, or 65 cents per share for the second quarter, and $86.5 million, or $1.26 per share, for the first half.

In 1995, the company earned $27 million, or 41 cents per share in the second quarter but had a loss of $32.6 million, or 49 cents per share for the first half. A first-quarter charge for restructuring Cincinnati Bell Telephone was the principal reason for the loss.

All six of Cincinnati Bell's businesses had higher revenues and operating income for this year's second quarter versus the same period last year.

The company's full-service local telecommunications company, Cincinnati Bell Telephone, had second-quarter revenues of $162 million, up 3 percent. Operating income excluding settlement gains increased 14 percent to $32.3 million.

Local-service revenues increased 5 percent for the quarter. Network access revenues increased 13 percent, largely due to a 7 percent increase in access minutes of use and a change in estimates for long-distance settlements. Labor costs, including contract labor, were slightly higher because of weather-related repair work and process redesign efforts.

The number of access lines in service in Cincinnati Bell Telephone's network increased 10,000 during the quarter to 927,000, an annualized gain of more than 4 percent. Access lines increased 3.8 percent from the second quarter of 1995.

CBIS, which is Cincinnati Bell Information Systems, recorded a 21 percent increase in revenues, to $114.5 million, and a 53 percent increase in operating income, to $18.8 million, for the second quarter. CBIS is the leading provider of billing and customer care services to the communications industry.

CBIS's revenue gain stemmed mainly from growth in business from long-term cellular, wireline and international clients, and from cable TV clients following the acquisition of a cable TV billing business late last year.

CBIS has established long-term relationships for billing and customer care support with several major companies in the emerging personal communications services (PCS) industry. These include the top three holders of A and B licenses awarded for PCS. The three have two-thirds (by population) of the A and B licenses awarded, and they extend CBIS's service-bureau coverage to 49 of the nation's 50 largest wireless markets. CBIS also will support AT&T's billing and customer care requirements as it re-enters the market for local telephone services.

To support these new and expanded relationships, CBIS in June transferred its Maitland service-bureau operations to its new state-of-the-art Orlando data center for greater capacity, security and reliability. The transfer included 5.5 terabytes of data (equal to the capacity of 11,000 PCs with 500-megabyte hard drives), and was completed without interruption in service.

Revenues for MATRIXX Marketing Inc., a leader in outsourced telephone marketing and related services, increased 20 percent to $80 million. Operating income increased 9 percent to $9.6 million.

MATRIXX Marketing's revenue growth from new and continuing clients for custom services nearly doubled, and its direct broadcast satellite business expanded, compared with the second quarter of 1995.

Among the company's smaller businesses, Cincinnati Bell Supply posted strong gains in revenues and operating income for the quarter, while Cincinnati Bell Long Distance had excellent revenue growth.

The number of Cincinnati Bell common shares and equivalents increased 4 percent to 68.9 million during the quarter. Principal factors were increases in common-stock equivalents due to higher market prices for the shares, and the exercise of stock options.

"Looking ahead," LaMacchia said, "the company's outlook is bright. CBIS and MATRIXX Marketing should have good revenue growth. Growth in the cellular market and new clients in PCS and cable TV will keep CBIS intensely focused on delivering high quality solutions as its base of business expands."

Cincinnati Bell is the global leader in helping communications companies achieve a competitive advantage through advanced billing, customer information and telephone marketing solutions, as well as the premier provider of communications services in Greater Cincinnati. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Recent Cincinnati Bell Inc. news releases are available free of charge via fax or the World Wide Web. Call 800/345-6301 and press number 3 to obtain this and other releases via the CBLD Fax Line. Cincinnati Bell's World Wide Web address is www.cinbellinc.com. -0-

                        CINCINNATI BELL INC.
            Revenues, Operating Income, Net Income and
                     Earnings Per Common Share
               In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts
                           (Unaudited)

                    Quarter Ended June 30

                                   1996         1995    Change

Revenues                         $ 376.0      $ 334.1    12.5%
Operating Income                 $  74.5(a)   $  56.3    32.3%
Net Income                       $  44.8(a)   $  27.0    65.9%
Earnings Per Common Share        $  0.65(a)   $  0.41    58.5%
Weighted Average Number
of Common Shares
Outstanding Including
Equivalents                         68.9         66.2     4.1%

Six Months Ended June 30

                                  1996         1995     Change

Revenues                         $ 738.1      $ 665.9    10.8%
Operating Income                 $ 147.1(a)  ($  24.1(b))  N/M
Net Income (Loss)                $  86.5(a)  ($  32.6(b))  N/M
Earnings (Loss)                  $  1.26(a)  ($  0.49(b))  N/M
 Per Common Share
Weighted Average Number
of Common Shares
Outstanding Including
Equivalents                         68.5        66.1      3.6%

(a) Includes special credits increasing operating income
    $5.5 million, net income $3.5 million, and earnings
    per share 5 cents for the second quarter, and operating
    income $11 million, net income $7 million and earnings
    per share 10 cents for the first half of 1996.

(b)Includes $132,000 of special charges, which reduced net
   income by $84.1 million, or $1.27 per common share.

CONTACT: Cincinnati Bell

Wayne Buckhout, 513/397-1081