Sprint PCS cuts earnings estimate for 2001

Sprint PCS has reduced its earnings guidance for fiscal year 2001 by about $100 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are now expected to be about $1.6 billion for the year.

The company attributed the decline to higher acquisition costs to “stronger than expected” customer additions in the third quarter, when the company added 1.2 million direct customers and 384,000 affiliate customers. The company is expecting to add another 1.3 million customers in the fourth quarter and is protecting net adds for the full year of 4.2 million, an 11% increase over previous projections.

Sprint PCS also increased its business customer base by 63% year over year. The company said it now has about 20,000 centrally managed business accounts nationwide.

All of this activity is causing Sprint PCS to raise its capital-expenditure estimates for the full year to about $3.6 billion, a modest increase over the previously projected $3.4 billion.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior news editor