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Sprint connects in 2Q
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July 22, 1999: 10:46 a.m. ET
No. 3 long-distance company hits targets with 6% gain in net; wireless sales soar
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Sprint Corp. Thursday reported a 6 percent gain in net in the second quarter, meeting analysts' estimates, as the long-distance provider tallied strong call-volume growth.
Kansas City-based Sprint, the nation's third-largest long-distance company, earned $386 million, or 44 cents a diluted share, up from $364 million, or 41 cents a diluted share, a year earlier.
The numbers matched the analysts' consensus expectation as compiled by research firm First Call Corp.
Revenue rose 7 percent to $4.2 billion.
Sprint said operating income from its key long-distance business, powered by higher calling volume, climbed 24 percent to $400 million. Operating profits in its local phone business rose 4 percent to $375 million.
But Sprint said its international operations, through its ailing GlobalOne venture with Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, continued to be hurt by market pressures and sluggish economies overseas. That business was largely responsible for cutting earnings by 7 cents a share.
Meanwhile, Sprint's 53 percent-owned wireless telephone unit reported a narrower-than-expected loss, thanks in part to soaring growth in revenues.
Sprint PCS (PCS) posted a second-quarter loss of $555 million, or $1.25 per share, compared with a pro forma loss of $153 million, or 98 cents a share, a year earlier. In November 1998, Sprint split off the PCS shares as a separate tracing stock from the wire-line parent company.
Sprint PCS was expected to lose $1.28 a share. Revenue soared 178 percent to $736 million.
"Sprint PCS continues to lead the wireless industry with record subscriber growth for three consecutive quarters," William Esrey, Sprint chairman and chief executive, said. "This quarter, Sprint PCS increased average revenue per customer while it reduced acquisition and operating costs-per-customer compared to the previous quarter."
The PCS subsidiary said revenue per customer rose to $54 a month, and said it added 617,000 new customers during the quarter.
Shares of Sprint (FON) shed 2-1/16 to 51-1/8, while Sprint PCS fell 9/16 to 57-7/16 on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning after the announcement. 
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Sprint
Sprint PCS
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