KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS reported earnings for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, of $996 million and $3.18 billion, respectively. This marks a significant increase from the $437 million and $1.23 billion reported for the 1998 fourth quarter and year.
For the fourth quarter, Sprint PCS experienced a net loss of $710 million, or 75 cents per share, compared with a loss of $649 million, or 72 cents per share, for the same time the previous year.
The company recorded a net loss of $2.5 billion, or $2.71 per share, for the year, compared with a loss of $1.1 billion, or $2.21 per share, for 1998.
During the quarter the company said it added approximately 1 million wireless customers, and its new subscribers for the year totaled more than 3.14 million. Sprint PCS also entered into agreements with Ameritrade, Fox Sports and Amazon.com to provide shopping, sports headlines and stock trading using the Sprint PCS Wireless Web.
The merger between MCI WorldCom and Sprint Corp., announced Oct. 5, should be completed by the second half of the year, Sprint said.
John M. Bensche, wireless services analyst with Lehman Brothers Inc., said the fourth quarter for Sprint was underwhelming relative to analyst expectations.
At 4 percent, the company’s churn was higher than the estimated 3.4 percent, but this was due in part to the closure of Sprint PCS’ Global System for Mobile communications network in the Washington, D.C., area, and the churning of prepaid subscribers.
Sprint PCS reported average revenue per subscriber of $54, which did fall in line with analyst expectations of $53.85. Sprint said it expects to keep ARPU steady this year through increased usage and wireless data revenues.
