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Sprint forecasts stronger EBITDA growth in 2014
2014-02-11 13:13:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Sprint forecast a further improvement in adjusted EBITDA in 2014, after reporting 13 percent growth in 2013. The result rose to USD 5.4 billion last year and is expected to reach USD 6.5-6.7 billion in 2014. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Sprint increased revenues slightly to USD 9.14 billion from USD 9.01 billion a year ago, helped by the acquisition of Clearwire, and adjusted EBITDA rose nearly 40 percent to USD 1.15 billion, helped by reduced handset subsidies and the shutdown of the Nextel network. Customer growth improved compared to the third quarter, with the net addition of 477,000 subscribers, including 219,000 in prepaid and 327,000 wholesale, offset by the loss of 69,000 in postpaid. The company added a net 58,000 postpaid users under the Sprint brand in the quarter, but lost 127,000 at Clearwire and the operations acquired last year from US Cellular. In total, Sprint had 55.354 million customers at year-end, down from 55.626 million at the end of 2012. The number of connected devices rose by over 1 million year-on-year, including 466,000 tablets in Q4 alone, to 4.50 million at end-2013. Despite more of the low-margin devices, ARPU improved over the year to USD 63.44 for retail postpaid and USD 27.34 for retail prepaid in Q4. Sprint increased capex last year to USD 7.45 billion from USD 5.37 billion in 2012. The company plans a further increase this year to around USD 8 billion, as it expands LTE coverage to 250 million people by mid-year, from 200 million currently.
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Category:Telecommunications