Sprint Nextel 1Q deficit widens on charges, customer exodus

“While the business will continue to face challenges in the short term, we are making progress in methodically attacking the sources of our performance issues.”

Wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. said Monday it had a larger first-quarter deficit as revenue fell, it lost more than a million subscribers and it absorbed charges for severance and other costs.

Its shares fell almost 4 percent in premarket trading.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said its loss totaled $505 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31 compared with a loss of $211 million, or 7 per share, during the first quarter of last year.

Not including a number of one-time charges, including $231 million for severance and asset impairment and $86 million in deal-related costs, the company said it earned 4 cents per share, compared to 18 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Read more