Sprint raised its forecast for annual EBITDA after reporting a strong second quarter. The company now expects adjusted EBITDA of USD 4.5-4.6 billion, up from an earlier outlook of USD 3.7-3.9 billion. In the second quarter, the company grew revenues 6 percent to USD 8.843 billion, and adjusted EBITDA rose 10 percent to USD 1.451 billion. Growth was driven by a 7 percent rise in mobile retail service revenues to USD 7.2 billion. The company is profiting from sales of the iPhone, which reached nearly 1.5 million in the quarter, and other data devices, which helped drive postpaid ARPU to USD 60.88 from USD 56.67 a year ago. Mobile OIBDA jumped 18 percent to USD 1.299 billion. Sprint ended June with a total 56.386 million customers, up by 273,000 from three months earlier, as growth in Sprint brand and wholesale customers offset fewer Nextel subscribers. Costs for shutting down the Nextel iDen network led to a net loss of USD 1.374 billion for the quarter, versus a loss of USD 847 million a year earlier. Sprint said it still expects service revenue growth of 4-6 percent over the full year and maintained its annual capex budget at USD 6 billion, after spending USD 1.958 billion in the first six months.
