KIRKLAND, Wash.-Nextel Partners Inc. posted third-quarter results that included both strong financial and operational metrics.
The carrier reported $473.1 million in total revenues during the third quarter. The result was a 31.5 percent improvement compared with the $359.8 million in revenues the carrier posted for the third quarter of 2004. Nextel Partners is in the midst of a tug of war with network partner Sprint Nextel Corp. over a fair price for Sprint Nextel to pay to acquire Nextel Partners.
The revenue growth was pittance compared with the more than 1,000-percent jump in net income from $34.4 million during the third quarter of 2004, a return of 12 cents, to $434.5 million this year, a return of $1.41 per share. A $378.5 million net tax benefit boosted the growth. The tax benefit was tied to a release of a portion of the company’s deferred tax valuation allowance offset by income tax expense related to the first two quarters of this year. Excluding the tax benefit, Nextel Partners posted a more modest return of 18 cents per share.
Nextel Partners previously reported a company-record 107,200 customers during the third quarter, which was well above analysts’ estimates and a 14.7-percent jump from the 93,500 customers the carrier added during the third quarter of last year. Nextel Partners ended the quarter with more than 1.9 million customers.
The carrier also previously reported that customer churn remained steady at 1.3 percent, which was in line with its second-quarter results and below the 1.4-percent churn the carrier reported last year. ARPU also improved sequentially from $68 during the second quarter to $69 during the third quarter, but was flat year-over-year.
