Telephone Companies loosing

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/sprint-posts-16-billion-loss/story.aspx?guid=%7B6F2EB7A3-E721-46F9-8ED5-86061029B431%7D


Sprint Nextel posts $1.6 billion loss
Wireless-phone company loses 1.3 million subscribers
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:56 a.m. EST Feb. 19, 2009
Comments: 10
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday posted another quarterly loss after shedding 1.3 million wireless customers, reflecting the company's difficulty in turning its business around, especially in a deep U.S. recession.
In the fourth quarter, Sprint reported a net loss of $1.62 billion, or 57 cents a share, compared with a loss of $29.32 billion, or $10.31 a share, in the year-earlier period. The 2007 quarter included a massive noncash write-down to reflect a decline in value of assets acquired in the 2005 acquisition of Nextel.
Revenue fell 14% to $8.43 billion.
Omitting one-time items, Sprint (S:
Sprint Nextel Corporation
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S 2.71, -0.05, -1.8%) said it would have earned a penny a share, compared with income of 23 cents a share in the same quarter of 2007.
Wall Street analysts expected Sprint to lose 6 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on sales of $8.55 billion, according to the consensus compiled by FactSet Research.
Sprint has been losing net customers for nearly two years despite a concerted effort to reverse the decline. The faltering U.S. economy has also undercut its effort, forcing Sprint to announce last month that it will eliminate 8,000 jobs, or 15% of its workforce.
The company ended 2008 with 49.3 million wireless customers, down from its all-time peak of about 54 million reached in mid-2007.
For 2009, however, Sprint said it expects the loss of customers to decline from 2008 levels, owing to steps it has taken to improve its wireless service.
In premarket trades, shares of Sprint rose slightly. The stock closed Wednesday at $2.71, down 5 cents.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.