MetroPCS tops 4M customer mark

MetroPCS Communications Inc. reported a net loss of $47 million while adding almost 299,00 customers during the fourth quarter of 2007. The company’s stock was down almost 7.5% in early trading with results falling short of analysts estimates, but has quickly inched beyond yesterday’s closing price of $15.20 to $15.34 and continued to climb.
The flat-rate, all-you-can-eat carrier ended 2007 with nearly 4 million customers and has since surpassed the 4 million mark, the company reported. For the second consecutive year, more than 1 million subscriber additions were added to the rolls. Customer net additions hit their stride during the fourth quarter. Although the 298,568 customers added in the quarter was down nearly 8% from the 324,454 customers added in the year-ago period, it still easily beat the 20% to 30% drop the carrier previously predicted due to an economic downturn.
Average monthly churn hit 4.8% during the quarter while it averaged out to 4.7% for the entire year. Customer losses rose incrementally from the 4.5% churn rate the carrier reported in the final quarter of 2006 and the full-year rate of 4.6% last year.
Net income for the year increase 87% from 2006 to $100 million.
“Our core markets continue to grow, adding incremental penetration of 1.1% over last year to a total penetration of 11.3%. With the first full quarter of results from our Los Angeles market, and the excellent progress we are making towards meeting the ultimate build-out goals, we anticipate continued strong growth in this market over the coming quarters,” Chairman, President and CEO Roger Linquist said in a prepared statement.