Sprint beats revenue and profit forecasts, shares rise

FILE PHOTO: The Sprint logo is displayed on a a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

(Reuters) - Wireless carrier Sprint Corp beat Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly revenue, profit and overall postpaid net subscriber additions on Wednesday, driving shares in the No. 4 U.S. mobile player 7 percent higher.

Sprint, which is awaiting regulatory approval for a merger with bigger rival T-Mobile US Inc, said it added a net 109,000 subscribers who pay a monthly bill during the second quarter, down from 168,000 new subscribers at the same time last year.

Analysts on average had expected the company to lose a net 10,000 subscribers, according to research firm FactSet.

It fell short, however, of estimates for it to add 22,000 net phone subscribers, instead losing 34,000 in the quarter as it battles the perception that it is struggling to keep up with investment by AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc.

Sprint reported net income attributable to the company of $196 million, or 5 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $48 million, or 1 cent per share, a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting the company to report a loss of 1 cent per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Total operating revenue rose to $8.43 billion from $7.93 billion. Analysts had expected company to report revenue of $7.97 billion.

Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in New York; editing by Patrick Graham

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(Original source)