Sprint posts $594 million first quarter loss

The hurting still continues for Sprint Nextel, the nation's third largest wireless carrier, which posted a larger than expected first-quarter loss. Trying to combat the slowing economy, they responded back by cutting 8,000 jobs in January, trying to ease their losses. Even through that, the Overland Park, Kansas based company reported a loss of $594 million, or 21 cents per share, during Q1 that ended March 31. When compared with last years results, Sprint's loss tallied at $505 million, or 18 cents per share. Total revenue went down 12 percent to $8.21 billion when compared to the $9.3 billion for the previous year. Analysts were expecting revenue to hit around $8.28 billion; still far short from the actual posting. Sprint continues to lose postpaid customers at an alarming rate with a total loss at 1.25 million subscribers versus the 1.1 million loss during the fourth quarter. Postpaid customers are by far the most profitable for any wireless carrier with them having to commit to a two year contract.  Surprisingly, there was an increase in net subscribers for their prepaid division thanks to Sprint's low-cost Boost Mobile subsidiary. Back in February, they launched their $50 per month unlimited talk, text, and data service. The net gains in prepaid customers for its iDEN network came in at 764,000 customers while another 394,000 gained through its wholesale and affiliate subscribers. All in all, Sprint lost a net of 182,000 subscribers which was a lot better than the 1.3 million they lost during the fourth quarter. With the summer upon us, will Sprint survive another quarterly loss with the Pre looming in the horizon? Or will it be the turning point for the third largest wireless carrier?

source: Yahoo