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To: SpinCity1 who wrote (79512)	10/24/2002 9:05:05 AM
From: SpinCity1	Respond to of 208838

Nextel posts third-quarter profit By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 7:49 AM ET Oct. 24, 2002 RESTON, Va. (CBS.MW) -- Nextel Communications on Thursday posted its second consecutive quarter of profits amid solid growth in new customers, quicker retirement of debt and tight cost controls. In the third quarter, Nextel said it earned $526 million, or 58 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $209 million, or 27 cents, in last year's second quarter. See press release. Excluding onetime gains, Nextel earned $128 million, or 14 cents a share. Nextel had been expected to earn 4 cents, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Sales climbed 26 percent to $2.3 billion from $1.81 billion a year earlier. In the previous quarter, sales tallied $2.15 billion. Cash flow, a key measure of financial health in the wireless business, jumped 67 percent to $878 million from $526 million a year ago, and it was up from $816 million in the previous quarter. Cash flow is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company added 480,000 net new subscribers, bringing its total to 10.1 million domestic customers. That's up slightly from 471,000 additions in the second quarter. Nextel caters mostly to businesspeople and mobile workers, who like the company's unique walkie-talkie-type mobile phones and the easy ability to hold group calls. It has sought to attract other customers as the business market becomes more saturated. Monthly revenue per customer remained at $71, the highest rate among large wireless phone carriers. Nextel also has the industry's lowest "churn" rate -- a measure of users who switch to competing services -- at 2 percent in the third quarter. That's down from 2.1 percent in the second quarter. On Wednesday, shares of Nextel (NXTL: news, chart) rose 11 cents to $10.20. In the third quarter, Nextel recorded a onetime gain of $401 million, or 44 cents a share, related to the early retirement of $1.5 billion in debt and preferred stock. By retiring $2.6 billion in debt early during fiscal 2002, Nextel said it will save $4.4 billion in payments over the long run. In the second quarter, the No. 5 U.S. wireless operator earned its first net profit ever of $325 million.