Sprint losses grow, but customer loss slows - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Revenue for the three months that endes March 31were $8.21 billion, a 12 percenyt drop from $9.3 billion in the same period a year Sprint (NYSE: S) said The Overland Park-based company posted a first-quarter loss of $594 or 21 cents a share, a 17.6 percent greatert loss than $505 million, or 18 cents a in the first quarter of 2008. The resultes included $327 million in severancew and exit costs, mostly relatedr to the Sprint announced in Before amortization, Sprint had earnings per shared of 3 cents in the first quarter, the release said. Sprint shares rose by aboutf 56 cents, or 12 percent, to $5.23 by arounc 10:30 a.m.
Trading volume passed 55 millionh shares, compared with averages daily volume for the past threw months ofabout 42.57 according to . Shares closed at $5, up abou 7 percent, on volume of 96.4 million. Sprint lost aboug 182,000 wireless customers in the first quarter, with net losses of abougt 1.25 million contract customers and 90,0009 prepaid customers from its Sprint But the companyadded 394,000 wholesale and affiliate subscribers, and 764,000 prepaicd customers on its Nextel networi through its $50 unlimited, no-contract Boosr plan. Sprint, the nation’s No. 3 wireless has a total of about 49.
1 million wireless The company has struggled with losses while majoe competitorshave gained. Sprint during the quarter generated $796 million of free cash flow — enougj to pay all of its debt that comes duethis year, CEO Dan Hesse said in the release. At the end of the firs t quarter, Sprint had $4.5 billion of cash and cash equivalentsand $1.4 billion of borrowing capacity through its revolving bank credit facility. “In the first quarter, we again made progressz in our major areasof focus: financialk stability, improving the customer experience and reinvigorating the brand,” Hessee said in the release.
Sprint posted the largesgt quarter-to-quarter improvement in net customer additions in Sprint Nextel history and had lowerchurbn — which measures customer turnover — than a year ago, he said. The compant now has improved customert satisfaction metricsand first-call resolution each month for 15 even after Sprint closed six vendoer call centers in the first quarter. First-quartef churn among contract customerswas 2.25 percent, comparex to 2.45 percent in the prior-yea period. But it rose from 2.16 percentt in the fourth quarter, mostly because of deactivations on business which were increased by the therelease said.
Sprint expects a shift from contract to prepaid services becaused ofthe economy, the release said, but predict fewer losses in both categorieds compared with 2008.