Sprint forecasts strong EBITDA improvement in coming year

News Wireless United States 26 JAN 2016
Sprint forecasts strong EBITDA improvement in coming year
Sprint reported USD 8.11 billion in operating revenue in its fiscal third quarter to 31 December 2015, down from USD 8.97 billion in the year-earlier period. The company said the 10 percent decline in revenue was due to lower mobile service sales, mainly related to customers’ shift to rate plans associated with device financing options, and lower equipment revenue from the shift from instalment billing and subsidised sales to leasing, which recognises revenue over time rather than at the point of sale. 

Adjusted EBITDA rose to USD 1.9 billion in the third quarter, as cost reductions more than offset the decline in operating revenue. Sprint improved its bottom line, posting a USD 836 million net loss (USD 0.21 per share), compared to a USD 2.4 billion net loss (USD 0.60 per share) in the third quarter of the previous year. Sprint said that adjusting for USD 209 million of severance and exit costs in the quarter and a non-payment charge of approximately USD 2.1 billion a year ago, the net loss would have improved by about USD 300 million, rather than USD 1.5 billion. 

Sprint added 491,000 net customers in its third quarter, including 501,000 new postpaid customers, the loss of 491,000 prepaid customers and the addition of 481,000 wholesale and affiliate customers. At the end of the period, the operator had 58.36 million total customers, including 30.9 million postpaid, 14.66 million prepaid and 12.8 wholesale and affiliate. This compares to 54.89 million total customers a year earlier. 

Thanks to accelerated cost reductions, Sprint improved its adjusted EBITDA guidance for the full fiscal year to USD 7.7-8 billion, versus its previous expectation of USD 6.8-7.1 billion. It has also raised its operating income guidance to a USD 100-300 million profit, compared to its earlier estimate of a USD 50-250 million loss. Its preliminary estimate for fiscal 2016 adjusted EBITDA is USD 9.5-10 billion.

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