Citing a pending review of previously filed financial statements, MetroPCS Inc. said it is postponing its initial public offering, which was expected to raise approximately $500 million for the regional wireless operator, originally scheduled for this week. The carrier filed an IPO registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March that included plans to offer 24 million shares of common stock for between $20 and $22 each.
“Management is postponing [the initial public] offering pending their review of certain accounting issues that came to their attention today, relating to the company’s previously disclosed financial statements,” MetroPCS said in a statement.
The carrier has not announced a new date for the IPO.
MetroPCS’ first-quarter financial results showed it served more than 1.1 million subscribers in its four markets of Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif. It posted $6.1 million in net income during the first three months of this year compared with a loss of $4.3 million during the first quarter of 2003.
MetroPCS is not new to financial uncertainty. In its previous incarnation as General Wireless Inc., it was one of the first companies to file for bankruptcy protection following the Federal Communications Commission’s PCS license auctions in 1996. Some industry sources have also expressed concern that the carrier has been holding back on network capacity and coverage upgrades in an attempt to boost its financial performance ahead of the IPO.
