Western Wireless Corp., which is in the process of being acquired by Alltel Corp. for $6 billion, reported $508.3 million in revenues during the fourth quarter of last year, which was a 22-pecent improvement compared with the $416 million the carrier posted during the fourth quarter of 2003.
Driving the year-over-year increase was Western Wireless’ international operations, which posted a 45-percent increase from $167.6 million in 2003 to $243.5 million last year and now account for nearly half of the carrier’s total revenues. Western Wireless’ domestic operations posted a smaller 9-percent year-over-year increase to $264.8 million, which was impacted by a slight drop in roaming revenues that the carrier attributed to contractual rate reductions that offset an 18-percent increase in total roaming minutes.
Fourth-quarter net income also increased from a loss of $1.1 million in 2003, a loss of 1 cent per share, to a return of $125 million last year, or $1.15 per share. Western Wireless’ domestic operations accounted for nearly all of the growth as net income increased from $29.3 million in 2003 to $153.7 million last year.
Full-year revenues increased 28 percent from $1.5 billion in 2003 to $1.9 billion last year, again led by Western Wireless’ international operations that posted a 61-percent year-over-year increase in revenues to $859.7 million. The carrier’s domestic roaming revenues followed a similar pattern to its fourth-quarter results, dropping from $217.4 million in 2003 to $205.5 million last year despite an increase in total roaming minutes.
Western Wireless had previously reported that it added 36,600 domestic subscribers during the fourth quarter of last year, which was a 48-percent improvement compared with the 24,800 subscribers the carrier added during the fourth quarter of 2003. Western Wireless ended last year with 1.4 million total domestic customers compared with 1.3 million at the end of 2003.
Average monthly revenue per user increased slightly from $47.95 during the fourth quarter of 2003 to $48.12 last year, while the cash cost per user jumped from $23.37 in 2003 to $25.71 last year, which Western Wireless attributed to changes in lease accounting that forced the carrier to postpone the release of its fourth-quarter financial results. Cost per gross addition dropped from $414 during the fourth quarter of 2003 to $337 last year, while customer churn dropped from 2.1 percent in 2003 to 2 percent last year.
