14 DAY TRIAL // Today, wireless carrier Sprint announced its financial results for the second quarter of the ongoing year. According to the company, the three months period was the first one during the past three years during which it registered net wireless subscriber growth. Moreover, it was also the quarter with the best postpaid churn result ever. For the quarter, the carrier announced consolidated net operating revenues of around $8.0 billion, along with a net loss of $760 million, which translates into a diluted loss per share of 25 cents. According to the company, it generated $709 million of Free Cash Flow in the time frame, end ended the quarter with around $4.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
“Our intense focus for the past ten quarters on improving the customer experience, strengthening our brands, and generating cash are paying off,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel CEO. “With strong cash flow, stable OIBDA and widespread third-party recognition for the improvements we’re making in the customer experience, which in turn strengthens our brands, we feel we can confidently improve our subscriber forecasts for the second half of 2010 and deliver positive total net wireless subscriber additions for the remainder of the year.”
During the second quarter of the ongoing year, Sprint managed to gain approximately 111,000 net subscribers. According to the wireless carrier, this was the result of increased demand for smartphones like the HTC EVO 4G and BlackBerry Curve. Moreover, Sprint says that the increase in subscriber base was also the result of a postpaid churn of 1.85 percent, the best ever in its history. The carrier registered a positive net postpaid subscriber growth of 136,000 on the CDMA network. The company ended the quarter with a customer base of 48.2 million.
Sprint's wireless service revenues for Q2 were of $6.4 billion, up one percent from last year and down one from Q1 2010. Wireles postpaid ARPU was $55 for the quarter, down from $56 in Q2 2009, while wholesale, affiliate and other revenues were down $90 million on a yearly basis. During the Quarter, the carrier launched its first 3G/4G Android phone, the HTC EVO 4G, and made 4G services available in eight new markets. A total of 43 markets can enjoy Sprint 4G at the moment, all of which, and a few others more, should benefit from the launch of another 4G device, the Samsung Epic 4G, a Galaxy S smartphone.
During the quarter, Sprint re-launched the Virgin Mobile brand, and released two new devices for Virgin Mobile customers, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 and the LG Rumor Touch. At the same time, the carrier launched the MiFi 2200 for the brand, in an attempt to enhance the prepaid Broadband2Go product. “I also want to underscore the importance of the prepaid business. We re-launched the Virgin Mobile brand, introduced Common CentsSM Mobile in about 700 Walmart stores this quarter, and we are encouraged by the customer response to Assurance WirelessSM, our government-subsidized program for qualified customers who need reliable wireless service,” Hesse commented. Additional info can be found here.
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