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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (35894)	1/15/2002 9:01:57 AM
From: j g cordes	Respond to of 69381

Harry, I won't be able to listen to the cc.. BBOX 'Black Box Corporation Reports Earnings Per Share of 81 Cents and Record Free Cash Flow of $28.9M for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2002 Results Include Strong ROS of 9.4% PITTSBURGH, Jan 15, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Black Box Corporation (Nasdaq: BBOX chart, msgs) today announced earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2001 of 81(cent) compared to 84(cent) for the same period last year. Revenues for the quarter were $179 million, a decrease of 19% from $221 million for the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was $16.9 million, or 9.4% of revenues, compared to $16.8 million, or 7.6% of revenues for the third quarter last year. Free cash flow for the quarter was a record $28.9 million, compared to $17.2 million for the same period last year. Earnings per share reported for the nine months ended December 31, 2001 were $2.36 compared to $2.37 for the same period last year. Revenues were $583 million, 3% lower compared to $602 million for the same period last year. Reported net income was $49.1 million, or 8.4% of revenues, up 4% from $47.1 million, or 7.8% of revenues for the same period last year. Free cash flow for the nine months ended December 31, 2001 was a record $55.5 million, up 39% compared to $39.9 million for the same period last year. Compared to last year's third quarter and the second quarter of this year, total operating margin for the quarter improved to 16%; with phone services remaining steady at 19% and on-site services improving to 14%. Commenting on the third quarter Fiscal 2002 results, Fred C. Young, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We remain steadfast to continue the strong performance of our business model relative to profitability and free cash flow. For the quarter, we increased our return on sales to 9.4% and free cash flow generation of approximately $29M set a new record. Both of these key metrics improved sequentially from our second quarter. Relative to the top-line, we will remain cautious to ensure we continue to produce Black Box-type levels of bottom-line oriented results." Mr. Young went on to say, "In the near-term, with the current state of the general worldwide economy, our goal for the upcoming fourth quarter is to repeat our third quarter. The cornerstone to this will be to stay focused on providing the highest levels of world-wide technical support services in the industry. And when the economy improves, we will be ready to capitalize on additional growth opportunities."

To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (35894)	1/15/2002 11:21:04 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69381

Adding more pressure to wireless. Should see some fall out on NT also. COM fall out due to ION cancellation. ********** Related Quotes FON PCS 19.21 17.55 -0.06 -0.41 delayed 20 mins - disclaimer Quote Data provided by Reuters Tuesday January 15, 10:21 am Eastern Time Sprint Sees Lower-Than-Expected Revenue KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - Sprint Corp. (NYSE:FON - news) warned on Tuesday that fourth-quarter revenues from its main local and long-distance telephone operations will be lower than expected and said its Sprint PCS Group (NYSE:PCS - news) wireless unit added fewer subscribers than forecast. ADVERTISEMENT Sprint, the No. 3 long-distance telephone company, said its main FON Group expects revenues in the low $4.0 billion range, compared with its previous target of $4.1 billion to $4.2 billion. The company blamed the shortfall on network services revenue growth at the low end of its expectations and product distribution revenues below its target. While it maintained its revised fourth-quarter earnings of 31 cents to 33 cents a share, Sprint said its operating cash flow will be in the low $1.0 billion range in the quarter and in the upper $4.6 billion range for the full year. The company had previously estimated full-year operating cash flow at about $4.7 billion. It expects to record slightly less than the expected $2 billion in one-time items associated with the termination of its ION high-speed network project. ION -- Integrated On-demand Network -- allow customers to make phone calls, send and receive faxes and cruise the Internet over a single phone line. Sprint PCS, Sprint's wireless unit, said it added 1.11 million direct subscribers, fewer than the 1.3 million analysts were expecting, due to lower-than-normal holiday sales. It ended the year with 13.6 million customers. Its affiliate operators added 381,000 net new customers and ended the year with 2.04 million customer The nation's No. 4 wireless operator said its customer turnover rate was 3.0 percent, in line with expectations. However, it warned that its full-year operating cash flow, or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), would fall below expectations. It now expects EBITDA in the upper $300 million range for the fourth quarter and in the low $1.5 billion range for the full year. Sprint PCS previously expected EBITDA to be closer to $1.6 billion. ``EBITDA is expected to be impacted by increased spending on marketing and other operating expenses and lower wholesale margins. These items were partially offset by lower variable selling expenses,'' the company said. Shares of Sprint slipped 17 cents to $19.10 and shares of Sprint PCS fell 91 cents to $17.05 early Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.