Sprint Nextel 3Q Loss Grows on Subscriber Losses

In this photo made Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, customers enter a Sprint store in Saugus, Mass. Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday, Oct. 29, reported a wider third-quarter loss as subscribers continued to leave for other carriers.(AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

(AP)

Sprint Nextel Corp., the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, on Thursday reported a wider third-quarter loss and a larger exodus of customers despite an improved slate of phones and cheaper rates.

Sprint, which hasn't reported a quarterly net gain in subscribers in more than two years, continues trying to regain ground in a highly competitive market. Besides investing heavily in improving its customer service efforts, the company has beefed up its portfolio of high-tech smartphones, including Palm Inc.'s Pre, in a bid to better compete with the likes of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, now sold by AT&T Inc.

It also has tried to undercut its competitors on price, offering unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls.

The company said it lost $478 million, or 17 cents per share during the three-month period ending Sept. 30. By comparison, it lost $326 million, or 11 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

Sprint's latest quarter included $15 million in severance costs, $97 million in equity losses connected to its investment in Clearwire Corp. and $53 million in gains from spectrum exchanges and access charge agreements. The company did not provide an earnings figure excluding items.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items from their estimates, expected a loss of 15 cents per share.

Revenue during the quarter slipped 9 percent to $8.04 billion from $8.8 billion, below the $8.09 billion expected by analysts.

Wireless revenue declined 8 percent as the company shed a net of 545,000 wireless subscribers, including 801,000 so-called postpaid customers who sign annual contracts and tend to spend the most.

It was larger than the 257,000 net subscribers lost in the second quarter, but it was an improvement on the postpaid front as the company lost 991,000 last quarter. Sprint lost 1.3 million total subscribers during the third quarter of 2008.