DALLAS-MetroPCS Inc., which filed an initial public offering statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, said it added 118,000 net subscriber additions during the fourth quarter of 2003, ending the year with 977,000 total subscribers in its four launched markets of Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif. Monthly churn for the carrier’s non-contract service was 4.4 percent during the fourth quarter and 4.6 percent for all of 2003.
Average revenue per user dropped from $39.31 during the fourth quarter of 2002 to $36.21 last year, while yearly ARPU fell from $39.17 in 2002 to $37.68 last year. The carrier attributed the decrease to an increase in subscribers that did not pay for service while in a “hotline” status.
Balancing the drop in ARPU was a decrease in cost per gross additions from $130.21 during the fourth quarter of 2002 to $87.11 last year and $158.50 during all of 2002 to $99.86 last year, as well as a decrease in cash cost per user from $23.35 during the fourth quarter of 2002 to $18.33 last year and from $36.49 during all of 2002 to $17.82 last year.
Total revenues more than doubled from $60.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2002 to $135.6 million last year, while full-year revenues more than tripled from $125.6 million in 2002 to $459.5 million in 2003. Net income results were mixed with fourth-quarter losses dropping from $18.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2002 to a loss of $3.8 million last year, while full-year income dropped from $128.2 million in 2002 to $1.8 million last year.
Fueling the sharp drop in year-over-year income was a $279 million gain in the sale of assets during 2002 that produced a total gain of $38.4 million in operating expenses for the year compared with a $413.6 million in operating expenses for 2003.
