Sprint reports big Q2 loss as it sheds 101,000 postpaid subs

Sprint on Thursday reported greater than expected losses in the second quarter despite modest revenue growth. The nation’s No. 3 carrier pulled in $8.3 billion in its June quarter, up 4% from the same quarter a year prior, but it wasn’t enough to bring the company back into the black. Sprint’s net losses in the second quarter totalled $827 million, 11% worse than the $760 million loss it reported in the second quarter of 2010. On the bright side, however, those losses include $588 million in bad investments and a $52 million tax charge from the state of Michigan, so Sprint would have shown sequential and year-over-year improvements if not for those losses. Sprint also reported its best subscriber churn of late in the second quarter, adding more than a million new subscribers despite shedding 101,000 net wireless postpaid customers. “Sprint’s second quarter results, including our fourteenth consecutive quarter of improved customer care satisfaction, our best ever postpaid churn, more than 1 million net wireless subscriber additions and wireless service revenue growth, validate that our focus on providing simplicity, value and an unmatched customer experience is working,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in a statement. Of note, sprint also announced a deal with LightSquared on Thursday that will see it bring 4G LTE services to 260 million Americans by 2015.

 

Sprint’s full earnings release follows below.