ATLANTA-Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS Inc., which is in the process of being acquired by fellow affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc., reported a 13.1-percent increase in revenues during its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31-from $81.5 million in 2003 to $92.2 million last year.
Despite the increased revenues, net income dropped from $173 million during the final three months of 2003, a return of $33.32 per share, to a loss of $15.3 million last year, or a loss of $1.30 per share. AirGate noted that net income in 2003 was positively affected by a $184.1 million non-monetary gain from getting rid of some discontinued operations resulting from the elimination of its investment in former subsidiary iPCS Inc. Without the charge, AirGate posted an $11.1 million net loss in 2003.
Net customer additions increased more than 3,500 percent year-over-year from 438 subscribers during the final three months of 2003 to 15,775 net customer additions last year. The strong growth was attributed to a 46-percent increase in gross customer additions from 35,601 subscribers in 2003 to 51,931 customers last year, and a drop in customer churn from 3.1 percent to 2.72 percent.
Average revenue per user dropped 4 percent from $57.62 in 2003 to $55.36 last year, while the cost per gross customer addition decreased 29 percent from $437 in 2003 to $309.
