Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Optimistic Despite Declining Profits

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 17:35:45 -0400

Nextel Optimistic Despite Declining Profits
October 19, 2003 4:49am
InformationWeek

Nextel Communications Inc. posted earnings Thursday that were down 9% from last
year. But the wireless communications provider says its finances are healthier
than ever, and will continue to improve.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Nextel posted a profit of $348 million, or 32
cents per share, down 9.1% from earnings of $383 million, or 55 cents per share,
in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue was up 27%, reaching $2.89 billion from
$2.28 billion a year ago.

Nextel says the reduced net income was due to higher expenses and debt retirement
charges, and expects improvement in future quarters. The company released revised
estimates for the rest of the fiscal year, saying that it expects 2003 earnings of
at least $1.15 a share, up from its previous target of $1.
Nextel says it added approximately 646,000 subscribers during the third quarter,
bringing total subscribers to 12.3 million. That number doesn't include 245,000
subscribers of Nextel's Boost Mobile subsidiary, which added 102,000 new customers
during the quarter.

The results are "unquestionably solid," says Technology Business Research analyst
Christopher Foster, and the company's growth and profitability are among the
industry's best. Nonetheless, Foster says Nextel may falling behind its
competitors in the enterprise market, expected to be an extremely profitable
growth area for the next three years. Says Foster, "Nextel's Achilles' heel
remains its lack of a strategy for high-speed data for the enterprise and its
reliance on Motorola handsets."

http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR20031016350.20_d1330004d240d9ef

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