U.S. Cellular shows financial, customer gains in Q1

U.S. Cellular Corp. reported a sizeable increase in revenues in preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2007, marking a steady increase in cash from operations over the same period a year ago.
Operating revenues for the quarter are expected to reach $925 million to $945 million and income is expected to hit $100 million to $120 million, the company announced. The company reported $836.4 million in revenue and $70 million in income during the same period a year ago.
U.S. Cellular attributed the revenue increase to a rise in the number of its wireless subscribers and its average revenues per user. The company reported an addition of 152,000 customers in the quarter, just 1,000 subscribers shy of the numbers it posted in the year-ago period. Post-paid churn remained at a steady 1.5% per month, the same amount it experienced in the year-ago quarter.
The No. 6 carrier, which now boasts nearly 6 million customers, forecast a total of 375,000 to 425,000 customer additions and income of $375 million to $425 million for the year.
The carrier’s shares were down just slightly after the news to around $73.94.