OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) reported preliminary results from the third fiscal quarter of 2014 that demonstrate the positive impact of Sprint’s efforts to offer customers the best value in wireless. During the quarter, Sprint platform net additions totaled 967,000 including postpaid net additions of 30,000, prepaid net additions of 410,000 and wholesale net additions of 527,000.
The growth in postpaid customers was driven by the highest number of postpaid gross additions in three years, and postpaid phone gross additions increased 20 percent for the quarter year-over-year. In addition, the percentage of prime customers was the highest on record.
“Sprint’s first priority is a return to customer growth and our results during the last quarter show we are on the right track,” said Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s CEO. “While we still have work to do, it is clear that our aggressive actions to provide customers with the best value in wireless are gaining momentum.”
Since Claure became CEO in August, Sprint has launched a number of innovative and simplified price plans and promotions including the Cut Your Bill in Half Event that cut in half the monthly rate plan for Verizon and AT&T customers who switch to Sprint, and the industry-first iPhone for Life leasing plan that offers the lowest total cost of iPhone ownership for consumers starting at only $20/month. Sprint exited the quarter strong on the heels of these offers, nearly reaching postpaid phone net additions in December and increasing take rates on Sprint’s device financing options to 50 percent in the last month.
Sprint will provide its full financial results for the third fiscal quarter of 2014 in February.
Safe Harbor
This release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. The words “may,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “target,” “plan,” “providing guidance,” and similar expressions are intended to identify information that is not historical in nature. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to our network, connections growth, and liquidity; and statements expressing general views about future operating results — are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management’s judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the ability to operationalize the anticipated benefits from the SoftBank and Clearwire transactions, the development and deployment of new technologies; efficiencies and cost savings of new technologies and services; customer and network usage; connection growth and retention; service, speed, coverage and quality; availability of devices; the timing of various events and the economic environment. Sprint believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date when made. Sprint undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our company's historical experience and our present expectations or projections. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in Sprint Corporation’s Transition Report on Form 10-K for the period ended March 31, 2014. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties.
About Sprint
Sprint (NYSE:S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 55 million customers as of September 30, 2014 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the last four years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
