OVERLAND PARK (dpa-AFX) - Wireless carrier Sprint Corp. (S) Wednesday reported a profit for the first quarter, adding that total retail postpaid net losses were fewer in the quarter. The stock is up nearly 3 percent in pre-market activity.
Sprint, which merged with Japan's Softbank Corp. (SFTBF.PK, SFTBY.PK) in 2013, has changed its fiscal year end to March 31.
The company's net income for the quarter totaled $23 million or $0.01 per share. Last year, it reported a loss of $114 million.
Revenue for the quarter totaled $8.789 billion. Twenty-one analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $8.69 billion.
Sprint said its adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization or EBITDA climbed 30 percent to $1.83 billion and adjusted EBITDA margin of nearly 24 percent was the company's best in six years.
Total retail postpaid net losses were 245,000, compared to 1.05 billion last year.
The Sprint platform reported a net loss of 220,000 customers in the quarter, compared to a net loss of 520,000 customers in the prior year period.
For the Sprint platform, Average Revenue Per User, or ARPU, was $62.07, compared to $64.20 last year. Total retail postpaid ARPU fell to $61.65 from $63.59.
The Sprint platform subscriber results included around 535,000 tablet net adds.
Postpaid net losses were 181,000 during the quarter, compared to additions of 194,000 last year, largely due to expected elevated churn levels related to service disruption associated with the company's ongoing network overhaul.
Sprint platform postpaid gross additions climbed 16 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Looking ahead, the company continues to expect calendar 2014 adjusted EBITDA to be between $6.7 billion and $6.9 billion.
S, which closed up 4.7 percent on Tuesday at $8.00, is gaining 2.7 percent in pre-market activity.
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