Analystc comments on earnings report:
''Nextel's average revenue went up every quarter in 1998,''
said Jeffrey Hines, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown Inc., who rates
Nextel ''strong buy.'' ''That's almost unheard of in the wireless
industry.''
Nextel said on a conference call with analysts and investors
that it expects to add 350,000 to 400,000 customers each quarter
in 1999. It also expects the average monthly revenue per customer
to fall slightly to the high $60 range.
The McLean, Virginia-based company estimates minutes of use
on its network will rise to 16 billion to 17 billion in 1999.
That's up as much as 79 percent from 9.5 billion in 1998, Tim
Donahue, president of Nextel, said on the conference call.
''I don't know any other wireless company with that kind of
average use per customer,'' said Christopher Larsen, an analyst
at Prudential Securities Inc., who rates Nextel ''strong buy.''
Chief Financial Officer Steven Shindler said the higher
phone use will help boost revenue more than 50 percent this year.
''The revenue growth won't be as high of percentage, but we
will be looking at something greater than 50 percent growth in
revenue,'' Shindler said in an interview.
BT Alex. Brown's Hines raised his estimates for cash flow,
or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization, for 1999 and 2000. In 1999, Hines expects cash flow
of $709 million this year and $1.3 billion in 2000.
Excerpted from Bloomberg reports |
