Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS Inc. said it lost 4,697 net subscribers during its fourth fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with a net gain of 22,387 subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2002. The 2002 quarterly results included AirGate’s iPCS Inc. subsidiary, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and is no longer included in its operational results. For the year, AirGate PCS said it added 34,520 subscribers in 2003 compared with 170,188 net subscriber additions during its 2002 fiscal year.
Customer churn during the fourth quarter dropped from 4.04 percent last year to 3.41 percent this year, while churn for the year increased from 3.4 percent in 2002 to 3.5 percent this year.
AirGate PCS reported $89.3 million in total revenues during the fourth quarter of this year compared with $137.2 million last year, though the carrier noted its standalone operations excluding iPCS posted $87.4 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2002. For the year AirGate reported $410 million in total revenues, or $331.3 million excluding iPCS revenues, compared with $456.5 million during fiscal year 2002, or $313.5 million excluding iPCS.
Consolidated net losses during the fourth quarter dropped from $615 million during the fourth quarter of 2002, a loss of $23.83 per share, to $7.8 million this year, a loss of 29 cents per share. Excluding its iPCS operations, net losses decreased year over year from $29.1 million to $7.8 million.
For the fiscal year, consolidated net losses dropped from $996.6 million during 2002, a loss of $41.96 per share, to $84.8 million this year, a loss of $3.27 per share. Excluding iPCS, net losses dropped from $92.8 million last year to $42.4 million this year.
