Sprint Reports a Loss on Its Nextel Write-Down

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/business/sprint-reports-loss-on-nextel-write-down.html

Sprint Nextel, the country’s third-largest wireless carrier, on Thursday reported a wider loss for the second quarter as it wrote down the value of its moribund Nextel network.

But Sprint was successful in persuading smartphone subscribers to pay more for the “unlimited data” service, and its service revenue climbed, beating Wall Street’s estimates.

The results cheered investors, who sent Sprint’s volatile stock up 20 percent, or 68 cents, to $4.05, its highest level in nearly a year.

In the April to June period, Sprint’s net loss was $1.37 billion, or 46 cents a share, compared with a loss of $847 million, or 28 cents a share in the same quarter last year.

Analysts polled by FactSet on average had been expecting a loss of 41 cents a share.

It was the 19th consecutive quarter of losses for Sprint, which is struggling to compete with its two bigger rivals, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Still, Sprint raised its forecast for adjusted operating earnings for the year by 18 percent. The measure excludes interest expenses and writing down asset values.

Sprint’s revenue totaled $8.84 billion, up 6 percent from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting $8.72 billion.