Sprint Loss Narrows on Subscriber Improvement

Sprint Corp. said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed, with higher subscriber rolls boosting the cell-phone carrier's revenue, though expenses continued to weigh on results.

Sprint reported a loss of $1.04 billion, or 26 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $1.32 billion. Revenue rose 1.5% to $9.14 billion. Operating expenses were nearly flat at $9.72 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a loss of 33 cents a share on revenue of $8.97 billion.

Sprint reportedly has been contemplating a bid for fellow wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), looking to make itself a much stronger rival against industry leaders Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T). However, the company is expected to face stiff opposition for any deal from U.S. antitrust officials, who blocked AT&T's $39-billion attempted takeover of T-Mobile in 2011.

Sprint's acquisition interest comes after Japan's SoftBank Corp. (9984.TO) last year acquired a majority stake in the company, providing Sprint with much-needed capital to expand its high-speed wireless infrastructure.

For the latest quarter, the company lost 69,000 net contract subscribers--the industry's most lucrative phone customers--compared with losses of 535,000 in the third quarter and a loss of 243,000 a year earlier. Total wireless net additions rose 477,000, compared with losses in the prior quarter and a year ago, thanks to growth in prepaid as well as wholesale and affiliate net additions.

The total contract customer turnover rate was 2.15%, compared with 2.09% in the previous quarter and 2.18% a year ago.

Write to Ben Fox Rubin at [e-mail]

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