LUBBOCK, Texas-Sprint PCS affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. reported a 25-percent increase in first-quarter revenue from $141.1 million last year to $176.7 million this year, which helped the carrier cut net losses nearly in half from $30.5 million last year, a loss of 33 cents per share, to a loss of$15.8 million this year, a loss of 17 cents per share.
Alamosa said revenue growth was helped by a slight increase in average revenue per user from $55 last year to $56 this year and a 36-percent increase in roaming revenue from $31.8 million in 2003 to $43.2 million during the first quarter of 2004.
Net customer additions increased 48.4 percent from 31,000 during the first quarter of 2003 to 46,000 net customer additions this year, bolstered by a 20-percent drop in customer churn from 3 percent last year to 2.4 percent this year. Alamosa noted it experienced a small number of net positive additions during the first quarter related to wireless local number portability, which was in effect in 18 percent of its markets beginning Nov. 24, 2003, with the remaining markets scheduled for WLNP May 24.
Cost per gross addition increased 5 percent year over year from $341 to $358, while the average monthly cash cost per user dropped nearly 14 percent from $36 during the first quarter of 2003 to $31 this year.
Alamosa also updated full-year guidance, increasing adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from $150 million to $170 million, market penetration from 6.6 to 6.8 percent to 6.8 to 7 percent by the end of the year, and lowered its expected churn forecast from less than 3 percent to less than 2.8 percent.
