ATLANTA-Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS Inc. posted a slight drop in year-over-year first fiscal quarter results from $81.9 million in 2003 to $81.5 million during the first quarter of 2004, linked to a decrease in roaming revenues from $18.9 million in 2003 to $16.5 million in 2004.
Net income improved from a loss of $47.7 million during the first fiscal quarter of 2003, a loss of $1.85 per share, to a return of $173 million this year, or a return of $6.66 per share. AirGate noted first-quarter 2004 net income was positively affected by a $184.1 million non-monetary gain from disposition of discontinued operations resulting from eliminating its investment in iPCS Inc.
Net subscriber additions during the quarter dropped from 13,670 customers in 2003 to 438 new subscribers this year. The decrease was attributed to a 36-percent drop in gross customer additions, which was not enough to offset an improvement in customer churn from 3.43 percent in 2003 to 3.1 percent this year.
Average revenue per user was flat year-over-year at $57.62 during the first quarter, while the cost per gross customer addition increased more than 35 percent from $375 in 2003 to $508 this year.
AirGate also reported that following its shareholder approved one-for-five reverse stock split that its stock was again trading on the Nasdaq National Market under the “PCSAD” symbol.
