Centennial Communications Corp. reported that its U.S. wireless operations lost 3,600 subscribers during its first financial quarter of 2005 ended Aug. 31 of this year, compared to a gain of 7,600 subscribers during the same quarter in 2003. Centennial’s Caribbean wireless operations made up for the loss by adding 20,500 subscribers during the first quarter, but fell short of the 24,000 customers it added last year.
Domestic customer churn during the first quarter increased from 2.3 percent last year to 2.6 percent this year, while the carrier’s Caribbean customer churn jumped from 2.8 percent to 3.6 percent. Domestic average revenue per user increased from $44 last year to $52 this year, as did the cost to acquire a customer, from $261 during the first quarter of 2004 to $347 for 2005.
Total revenues increased from $191.3 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $216.8 million this year. Domestic revenues increased from $94.5 million in 2004 to $103.1 million this year despite a drop in roaming revenues from $17 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $13.3 million in 2005.
Consolidated net income also increased from a loss of $4.3 million last year, a loss of 4 cents per share, to a return of $8.5 million this year, or 8 cents per share.<
