CHICAGO—U.S. Cellular Corp. released revised figures on the impact of the financial restatement the company has been working on since November, and put out a few preliminary figures on its operations for the fourth quarter and year-end 2005.
The company considerably upped its estimate of net income losses for the year 2002. That year, U.S. Cellular reported a loss of $27 million and had anticipated that it would adjust that figure upward or downward by $2 million or less. According to the new adjustment range, the actual losses for 2002 will end up being between $33 million and $37 million.
“The significant change in the anticipated ranges for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002 is related primarily to adjustments made to deferred income tax balances,” the company reported.
The changes to the restatement also boosted net income by an estimated $5 million to $9 million in the third quarter of 2004, above the $2 million to $6 million the company had previously expected. The other time periods that are set to be restated—including the first and second quarters of 2005, the third quarter of 2004 and the years 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004—still are expected to be within the range of $3 million more or less than originally reported.
U.S. Cellular also revealed a bit more about its actual performance since it stopped filing operational results in late 2005. The carrier reported that it is likely to have operating revenues of between $750 million and $850 million for the fourth quarter of 2005, up from the restated $675 million to $725 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. The company estimated operating income in the fourth quarter of 2005 was between $55 million to $85 million, up from a restated range of $20 million to $60 million in the same quarter of the previous year.
U.S. Cellular credited increases in its customer base for the swell in operating revenue, and added that “lower operating expenses as a percent of revenue and higher gains on sales and exchanges of assets” helped boost its operating income. U.S. Cellular and Alltel Corp. exchanged some wireless properties in the fourth quarter of 2005, which U.S. Cellular said resulted in a $40 million to $45 million gain in the period.
U.S. Cellular’s stock rose slightly in early trading after the new figures were released. The company’s deadline to file its restatements, year-end and quarterly results since the third quarter of 2005 is June 30.
