AirGate posts smaller loss

Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS Inc. said it lost 4,697 net subscribers during its fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with a net gain of 22,387 subscribers during fourth-quarter 2002. The 2002 results included AirGate’s iPCS Inc. subsidiary, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and is no longer included in its operational results. For the year, AirGate PCS said it added 34,520 subscribers in 2003 compared with 170,188 net subscriber additions during its 2002 fiscal year. Customer churn during the fourth quarter dropped from 4.04 percent to 3.41 percent, while churn for the year increased from 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent. AirGate PCS reported $89.3 million in 4Q revenues compared with $137.2 million last year, though the carrier noted its standalone operations excluding iPCS posted $87.4 million in revenue during fourth-quarter ’02. For the year, AirGate reported $410 million in revenues, or $331.3 million excluding iPCS, compared with $456.5 million during fiscal year 2002, or $313.5 million excluding iPCS. Consolidated net losses in the quarter dropped from $615 million in ’02, a loss of $23.83 per share, to $7.8 million this year, a loss of 29 cents per share. Excluding its iPCS operations, losses decreased year over year from $29.1 million to $7.8 million. For the year, net losses dropped from $996.6 million in ’02 to a loss of $84.8 million this year. Excluding iPCS, losses dropped from $92.8 million to $42.4 million this year.