Leap’s loss narrows, to $18.1M in Q1, while markets expand: Subscriber base passes 3-million mark

Leap Wireless International Inc., which sells unlimited wireless phone service under the Cricket brand, reported an unaudited $18.1 million loss in the first quarter, a 25% improvement from the $24.2 million it lost in the same period a year prior.
Leap Wireless grossed 550,520 new customers in the quarter, which cost the company $159 per customer to add on average, it reported. The carrier’s net subscriber additions for the quarter reached 230,062, bringing its total subscriber base to just over 3 million.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) hit $44.98 on the quarter, up slightly from $44.81 in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the company made improvements on customer churn during the quarter, which was down to 3.6% from the 4.2% it experienced in the previous quarter. But churn in the year-ago period was even lower at 3.4%. The slight increase in year-over-year churn was due to “customer tenure and market launches in the first quarter of 2007,” according to the company.
With new markets just launched in Texas, Leap ended the quarter with the potential to coverage a population of about 54 million people, the company said. Through additional market launches, the company plans to increase its network coverage by as much as 50 million additional pops by the end of 2010.
The company’s financial results improved during the quarter despite a $7.4 million increase in net interest expense on debt and a $7.3 million increase in income tax expense, the company reported.
Company stock was up 8.8% to $54.51 on the news.