Sprint Net Loss Grows on Nextel Writedown

Sprint Nextel

reported a net loss for the first quarter of $863 million, nearly twice the loss reported a year ago, as the company reported expenses related to the shutdown of the Nextel platform. Accelerated depreciation of the Nextel platform, costing $543 million or a loss of 18 cents per share, cut into the quarter's potential profits. Rising monthly bills allowed the company to beat analysts' estimates. The 29-cents-per-share loss was about twice the 15 cents per share, or $439 million, loss a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were predicting a 41 cent loss. Wireless service revenues rose more than 7% to $7.2 billion in the quarter as average revenue per user climbed $4.03 in the year for postpaid customers, who receive a bill after using the wireless carrier's service. This was the largest year-over-year increase for the US wireless industry, the Overland Park, Kansas-based company said in a press release issued today. The company sold 1.5 million Apple

iPhones in the quarter, 44% of which went to new customers. Sprint has a four-year $15.5 billion contract to sell the iPhone. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones in the first quarter, the Cupertino, Cali.-based company reported in an earnings statement yesterday. It was an 88% increase in sales over the prior first quarter. Apple had a net income $11.62 billion or $12.30 per share, compared to $5.99 billion or $6.40 per share, a year earlier, handily beating Wall Street analysts' estimates of $10.06 per share. Revenue climbed to $39.2 billion versus $24.7 billion in last year's second quarter, also beating analysts' consensus revenue estimates of $36.81 billion. Sprint had a net loss of 192,000 postpaid customers as more than 450,000 customers left the Nextel platform. Sprint customers paid an average of $59.88, compared to $56.17 a year earlier, as premium data add-on charges were introduced for smart phones. Competitor AT&T

added about 726,000 postpaid customers in the quarter, which paid an average monthly bill of $64.46, the Dallas, Texas-based company reported yesterday. Verizon

added 501,000 postpaid customers paying an average of $55.43 per month, the company reported last week.