Sprint Nextel has reported a net loss of $1.62 billion for the fourth quarter, against a loss of $29.31 billion in the year-ago quarter, on revenue down 14.4% at $8.43 billion.
It made an operating loss of $1.72 billion, compared to $29.4 billion last year. The company also recorded non-cash goodwill impairment charges of $963m for the quarter.
Wireless revenue declined 15% to $7.1 billion, while wireline revenue increased 6% to $1.5 billion. It said total wireless subscribers declined by 1.3m, which included 1.1m post-paid subscribers and 314,000 prepaid users. The total number of customers in the quarter was 49.3m compared to 53.6m last year.
For the fiscal year it reported a net loss of $2.79 billion, compared to a loss of $29.4 billion last year, on revenue down 11.2% at $35.63 billion.
Dan Hesse, chief executive at Sprint Nextel, said: We already have the cash on hand to be able to meet our debt service requirements at least through the end of 2010. With this financial stability, we can build on the improvements we’ve made in customer care, strengthen our brand, and maintain continued strong network performance in 2009.
