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Sprint reports record subscriber numbers in Q1, but can’t dodge $643 million loss

Published Apr 24th, 2013 7:25AM EDT
Sprint reports record subscriber numbers in Q1, but can't dodge $643 million loss

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Sprint on Wednesday reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2013, which saw the carrier’s subscriber base and service revenues grow to record highs. Unfortunately, the company still found itself in the red, posting a net loss of $0.21 per share, or $643 million, on sales totaling $8.8 billion. That’s a slight improvement over the same quarter last year, when Sprint posted a loss of $863 million. Wireless service revenue in Q1 2013 came in at $7.1 billion, the highest on record for Sprint.

“This is a transformative year for Sprint and we’ve gotten off to a good start,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “Record Sprint platform service revenue and subscriber levels fueled our performance. We achieved significant Adjusted OIBDA growth while investing heavily to improve our network, expanding our 4G LTE footprint and offering customers the best smartphones with truly unlimited data plans.”

The carrier also noted that 86% of Sprint brand handset sales in the first quarter were smartphones (5 million units), including iPhone sales totaling 1.5 million units.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.