Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS Inc., which announced last week a definitive agreement to be acquired by fellow affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc., reported financial results for the carrier’s fourth fiscal quarter and year ended Sept. 30.
The carrier said it added 9,296 subscribers during the fourth quarter, which was a significant improvement compared with the loss of 4,697 customers during the fourth quarter of 2003. The turnaround was helped by a 29-percent year-over-year improvement in gross subscriber additions and a drop in customer churn from 3.41 percent during the fourth quarter of 2003 to 2.83 percent this year.
Full-year net customer growth increased 23.4 percent from 20,321 subscribers in 2003 to 25,077 net customer additions this year. AirGate posted the increase despite a 7-percent drop in gross subscriber additions, which was offset by a drop in customer churn from 3.2 percent in 2003 to 2.8 percent this year.
Average revenue per user dropped nearly 6 percent during the fourth quarter from $61.22 in 2003 to $57.58 this year, while full-year ARPU fell 5 percent from $60 in 2003 to $57.01 in 2004. Cost per gross addition also dropped during the fourth quarter from $395 in 2003 to $375 this year, though full-year CPGA increased from $361 in 2003 to $375 in 2004.
Fourth-quarter revenues increased slightly from $89.3 million in 2003 to $91.5 million this year, while full-year revenues jumped from $331.3 million in 2003 to $337.1 million in 2004.
Net income also improved during the fourth quarter from a loss of $7.8 million in 2003, a loss of $1.51 per share, to a return of $8.7 million this year, or 74 cents per share. Full-year net income also increased from a loss of $84.8 million in 2003, a loss of $16.36 per share, to a return of $174 million this year, or $18.88 per share. Full-year net income results included a $42.6 million loss from discontinued operations in 2003 and a $184.1 million gain on disposal of discontinued operations this year.
