Sprint Q2 2009 finances revealed: $348m net loss, 257k customers down

Sprint have announced their Q2 2009 financial results, and while there are glimmers of hope in the shape of ongoing prepaid customer growth and stable post-pay revenue, the take-away figures are a loss of 257,000 customers over the three month period and a net loss of $384m on revenues of $8.1bn.  That revenue is down 1-percent from Q1 2009, and down 10-percent on Q2 2008, though Sprint did manage to pay off $700m of debt (although it still owes $16.4bn).

The figures do not include Sprint's recent acquisition of MVNO Virgin Mobile, which is estimated to cost the carrier $483m.  However subsidiary Boost Mobile puts in a strong showing, with revenue growth from its pre-pay users offset revenue declines from post-paid subscribers. 

As for the future, Sprint expect post-paid and total subscriber full-year losses to be an improvement over 2008.  They're also expecting capital expenditure to be less than in 2008, though that does not include investment in WiMAX.