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Sprint rings up 1Q profit
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April 18, 2000: 10:03 a.m. ET
Revenue, mobile customer growth helps telecom beat analysts' expectations
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Sprint FON Group posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings Tuesday, driven by dramatic customer growth in its wireless phone division and a nearly 20 percent jump in overall revenue.
The Kansas City, Mo.-based telecommunications company earned $428 million, or 48 cents per share, from continuing operations during the quarter. That was down slightly from the $434 million, or 49 cents per share, it earned a year earlier, but exceeded the consensus analyst estimate by a penny, according to research firm First Call Corp.
When the company's net gains on investments and discontinued operations were included, Sprint actually earned $1.12 billion, or $1.25 per share, up from $408 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sprint's mobile phone division, Sprint PCS (PCS: Research, Estimates), also narrowly beat expectations, posting a loss from continuing operations of $492 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with a loss of $605 million, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts were projecting a loss of 58 cents.
 Sprint (FON: Research, Estimates), the nation's No. 3 telecommunications and long-distance company, said revenue jumped 18 percent for the quarter to $5.48 billion as it added roughly 831,000 net new customers to its PCS service, the equivalent of adding a new customer every 10 seconds during the quarter.
In addition to growing its subscriber base by more than 12 percent, Sprint PCS nearly doubled net operating revenue to $1.18 billion during the quarter. That helped overcome a decline in residential long-distance revenue, a result of lower international sales and a one-time loss on a calling card contract.
However, the company's overall long-distance revenue climbed 7 percent to $2.74 billion due to stronger commercial business growth and the company's growing ability to bundle wireless and wireline products.
The company's new Integrated On-demand Network, which combines voice, video and data services over a single phone line, posted a net loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of $1 million, compared to a loss of 4 cents per share a year ago.
Shares of Sprint climbed 1-1/4 to 58 shortly after the opening bell Tuesday. Sprint PCS shares were initially held from trading. On Monday, they gained 1-1/16 to close at 46-3/4.
Sprint's stock has lost steam in recent months as the company's proposed $115 billion merger with MCI Worldcom (WCOM: Research, Estimates) came under increased regulatory scrutiny both in the United States and overseas. 
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Sprint
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