CenturyLink 2014 Annual Report Download - page 6

4 • CenturyLink 2014 Summary Annual Report and 2015 Annual Meeting Documents
We also have the financial strength to invest in our
transformation. In 2014, we generated operating cash flow,
excluding special items, of $7.1 billion, and we returned
approximately $1.9 billion to our shareholders through
our dividend and share repurchase program.
I hope you share my confidence and enthusiasm for
CenturyLink and our potential. We have a clear vision of
how our integrated network, cloud/hosting and IT services
can enable new ways of living and working in an innovation-
driven, fast-moving world. We hold a unique position – the
people, technology, assets and financial strength – that
gives us a clear advantage in enabling this new economy.
We will work diligently in the year ahead to continue
our transformation for the benefit of our customers,
shareholders, employees and the communities we serve.
Glen F. Post, III
Chief Executive Officer and President
Achieving operating efficiencies is an important
component of our transformation. As our revenue mix
continues to shift from legacy services to lower-margin
strategic services in an increasingly competitive operating
environment, we have focused on driving efficiency in our
business. We are simplifying, rationalizing and modernizing
our network and improving process automation to reduce
costs. We are also implementing applications and work
tools to improve sales efficiency. In recent years, we
consolidated our internal IT operations from more than
10 data centers to four, and, by year-end 2015, we expect
the vast majority of our new and strategic internal IT
applications to be hosted in the cloud.
Transformation is hard work, but it is not new for
CenturyLink. We are a company that has successfully
transformed itself a number of times as our industry and
growth opportunities have changed over the years. We
are confident that we have the experience and the financial
strength to continue our transformation.
CenturyLink has continued to grow and expand in a dynamic
and challenging industry environment, and, while much has
changed, our commitment to our Unifying Principles and the
communities we serve remains constant. Our employees
have proven their capacity for change and their dedication
to the ongoing transformation underway in our company.
“ We have a clear vision of how our integrated network,
cloud/hosting and IT services can enable new ways of living
and working in an innovation-driven, fast-moving world.
We hold a unique position – the people, technology, assets
and financial strength – that gives us a clear advantage
in enabling this new economy.”
To Our Shareholders (cont.)