Nextel Communications Inc. reported a strong quarter of subscriber additions and rising revenues, but the news didn’t help spur a market depressed by unimpressive reports from industry heavyweights like Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc.
Nextel announced second-quarter revenue of $2.6 billion, up 19 percent over the same quarter last year. The carrier scored $582 million in operating income and subscriber additions of 591,000. Nextel’s subscriber base now clocks in at 11.7 million.
“This quarter represents Nextel’s strongest performance to date,” said Tim Donahue, the carrier’s president and chief executive officer. “We are delivering on every front and producing record earnings, record subscriber additions and garnering the most valuable customers in the industry. Nextel continues to attract and retain the most valuable customers in the industry due to our differentiated wireless products and services, our targeted sales approach and our enhanced back office systems.”
Nextel’s average monthly service revenue per subscriber was $69 for the second quarter, up from $67 in the first quarter. Customer churn was 1.6 percent.
The carrier said it is raising its expectations for the rest of the year.
Despite the good news, Nextel’s stock was down about 2 percent following its report, to about $19.60 per share.
However SpectraSite’s stock was up more than 2 percent on Nextel’s earnings report, trading at $60.25. SpectraSite owns as majority of Nextel’s towers and stands to gain if Nextel increases its tower builds later this year.
In other carrier news, Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. in Canada reported a 14-percent jump in revenues and a 38-percent jump in operating profit over the same quarter last year. The carrier counts about 3.7 million customers.
