SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. said its consolidated net income more than doubled during the first quarter to $17.7 million, up from $7.5 million reported during the first quarter of 2005.
The company’s stock climbed nearly 2 percent on the news to around $46.84 per share.
Leap said it added more than 110,000 net customers during the first quarter, an increase of 140 percent from net additions of about 46,000 during last year’s first quarter. The growth was also ahead of analysts’ estimates of around 100,000 to 105,000 net customer additions.
“Our total net customer growth for the quarter included approximately 82,000 new subscribers in markets operating at the end of 2005, with approximately 28,000 additional new customers coming from the markets launched during the quarter,” said Doug Hutcheson, chief executive officer and president of the company.
Leap ended the quarter with 1.78 million total customers.
Customer churn came in at 3.3 percent, equal to its churn figures from last year’s first quarter but an improvement from the 4.1 percent churn reported for the fourth quarter of 2005. Average revenue per user was $41.87, up nearly $3 from the $39.03 posted during the year-ago period and $39.74 for the fourth-quarter of 2005. Analysts noted the growth highlighted the increasing draw of Leap’s high-end $45 per month service plan.
Total consolidated revenue for the quarter was $266.7 million, up 17 percent from first-quarter 2005 revenues of $228.4 million. Analysts had expected revenues of about $246.3 million.
The company offered second-quarter guidance for customer additions of between 70,000 and 90,000. It also predicts churn will increase during the quarter to between 3.9 percent and 4.1 percent.
