Wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday said second-quarter profits dropped sharply on takeover costs and expenses tied to its planned rollout of a WiMax network. The Reston, Virginia-based company, with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas, said it earned $19 million, or 1 cent per share, during the three months ending June 30, compared with $370 million, or 10 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. And although profits are down sharply, the company said it earned 25 cents per share, still managing to beat the 22 cents per share prediction of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. However, revenue during the quarter rose only about 2 percent, from $10 billion to $10.16 billion, missing Wall Street's estimate of $10.2 billion.
The company, which has struggled to keep up with rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, said it increased its subscriber base during the quarter by 400,000, up to 54 million customers. Wholesale channels contributed 155,000 new subscribers while affiliates generated 33,000 new subscribers. During the same quarter, AT&T added 1.5 million customers while Verizon Wireless added 1.6 million customers, but lost 300,000 through the bankruptcy of Amp'd Mobile.
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