Sprint beats analysts' projections

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Sprint Corp. exceeded analysts&#39; expectations for the first quarter, and said it&#39;s making progress in efforts to increase profitability and improve the company&#39;s efficiency despite a challenging market. <br> <br> Sprint&#39;s consolidated operations of its long-distance telephone and wireless communications businesses, reported first-quarter earnings of $140 million, compared with a loss of $76 million a year ago. Consolidated revenue rose 8 percent to $6.76 billion. <br> <br> Sprint FON, which includes local and long distance service, reported operating income of $460 million, down 14 percent from $532 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding losses from the ending of the company&#39;s ION broadband effort, operating income for the quarter would have been $466 million, compared to $677 million a year ago. <br> <br> Sprint FON reported a profit of $286 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with $316 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding losses from ending ION, the company said FON earned 33 cents a share, 3 cents higher than estimates from Thomson Financial/First Call analysts <br> <br> The FON group&#39;s revenue fell 8 percent to $4.03 billion, compared with $4.36 billion in the same period a year ago. <br> <br> Sprint chairman and chief executive William Esrey said the company, which has eliminated nearly 11,000 jobs since October, remains ``focused on improving the efficiency of our operations enterprise-wide.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Sprint PCS group reported operating income of $113 million, compared to a loss of $282 million in the same quarter last year. The group reported a net loss of $146 million, or 15 cents a share, compared to a loss of $391 million, or 40 cents a share a year ago. Analysts had predicted a loss of 20 cents a share. <br> <br> Esrey said the PCS had made progress on three fronts - increasing profitability, adding customers and beginning nationwide third-generation (3G) data services. <br> <br> This summer, the company plans to be the first U.S. wireless carrier to deliver 3G wireless service nationwide. Revenues for PCS rose from $2.76 billion in the previous quarter to $2.85 billion, as PCS added 725,000 new customers. ``Churn,&#39;&#39; or customer turnover, was 3 percent in the quarter, the same as last quarter. <br> <br> Shares of Sprint FON fell 78 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $13.47 on Monday. Sprint PCS shares were up 6 cents, or .6 percent, to $10.02. <br>

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