Leap Investor Relations Dept. speaks :
messages.yahoo.com
Courtesy of LWIN IR
by: bidupbid (34/M/Perry Ohio)
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy
02/21/02 01:29 pm
Msg: 16433 of 16450
I hope this kills some of the rumors:
Thanks to LWIN IR...here it goes:
As of the end of the fourth quarter, Leap had
approximately $411M in million in cash and unrestricted marketable
securities, including our $85 million cash deposit for Auction #35. In
addition, total borrowings at the end of the fourth quarter against our
vendor facilities with Lucent, Nortel and Ericsson was $1.112B against a
total available commitment of $1.845B. As discussed in our conference call
for the fourth quarter, assuming the cash Leap previously earmarked for
Auction #35 is available for our 40 Market Plan and that we can successfully
negotiate revisions to our loan covenants with its vendors from time to
time, Leap believes that, with its anticipated operating cash flow and cash
on hand, it is fully funded for its 40 Market Plan and will be able to meet
scheduled debt service on all of its debt obligations. In 2004, we may
again have to look at adjusting financial covenants or refinancing our
vendor facilities.
Wireless stocks have continued to trade down as a group based in part on
concerns over the potential of slowing customer growth and leverage ratios.
As we have discussed before, we believe that Leap is a truly different kind
of wireless carrier. We have done well in our large markets and in our
small markets. We have done very well regardless of the number of, or the
approaches taken by, the traditional PCS and Cellular carriers to compete
for our market share. The success we have demonstrated buttresses our
belief that we are a provider of a very different and attractive kind of
wireless service to a new segment of wireless customers and we believe that
the customer growth we posted in the fourth quarter, during which we added
over net new 394,000 customers is real, tangible evidence of this
difference. To help put this in perspective, we added more new customers in
the fourth quarter than Cingular and more new customers than all 12 public
and private Sprint PCS affiliates combined. We have built an organization,
a product offering, and a cost structure to address and dominate a growth
segment of the industry. Our service provides the ubiquity, comfort and
predictability of landline at a price that is competitive with landline but
with the added capability of full mobility in the local calling areas where
people live, work and play. We believe our segment is larger by far than
any other segment currently defined. Concurrent with our expected customer
growth this year, we will continue to focus on reducing costs across our
business through concentrated efforts aimed at streamlining processes,
improving operational efficiency and customer retention, and increasing per
user revenues. |
