Message #1 From:
Jason Date: May 11, 2008 04:31:28 PM
MetroPCS Reports First Quarter 2008 Results
First Quarter 2008 Highlights Include:
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $178 million, representing 19% year
over year growth
Quarterly net subscriber additions of 452 thousand
First commercial launch of AWS Market, Las Vegas
Reaffirms outlook for continued growth in 2008
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS), the nation’s
leading provider of affordable, flexible and predictable unlimited
wireless communications service for a flat-rate with no signed contract,
today announced financial and operational results for the quarter ended
March 31, 2008. MetroPCS reported Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $178
million, and ended the first quarter of 2008 with approximately 4.4
million subscribers.
“Results in the first quarter were very strong
considering the current challenging macro economic environment.
Highlighted by 452 thousand net additions and flat churn year over year,
our compelling value proposition as well as the ongoing trend of
landline replacement in the United States, resulted in continued
subscriber growth as well as solid quarterly Adjusted EBITDA. Every
operating market continues to report positive net additions resulting in
increased penetration and total subscribers. With this momentum, we
reported Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of service revenues during the
first quarter of 46.2% for our Core Markets, and 31.6% on a consolidated
basis. We also maintained our focus on managing costs and reported
industry-leading low consolidated CPGA and CPU,”
said Roger D. Linquist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
of MetroPCS.
“Los Angeles, our largest market to date,
continued to demonstrate an acceleration in growth during the first
quarter. We continue to aggressively expand our service footprint
towards our 15 million covered POPs goal by the end of the third
quarter. We also were able to launch service in Las Vegas, the first
commercially launched AWS Market in the United States, ahead of schedule
during the first quarter. Growth in our Expansion Markets continues to
be strong, but more impressive is that our Core Markets continue to show
significant increased penetration. Over the past twelve months we have
added over 1 million total subscribers, which represents approximately
30% subscriber growth when compared to the same period last year.
“Construction in the Northeast continues, and
we are excited about our future planned launches of service in the
Philadelphia, Boston and New York City metropolitan areas. We believe
these major metropolitan areas will fuel substantial future growth for
the Company. Currently, our service covers an approximate 60 million
POPs and once the buildout of the Northeast is complete, our service
footprint will cover in excess of 100 million POPs. In this time of
credit market uncertainty, it is important to note that we have a
fully-funded business plan for all of our planned expansions with a
substantial liquidity cushion. As we build out our Northeast markets, we
will work to maintain our low cost structure while growing the business
profitably. I am proud of our accomplishments to date and I am excited
with our future growth prospects,” Linquist
concluded.
For the first quarter of 2008, MetroPCS reported total revenues of $662
million, an increase of 23% over the first quarter of 2007, and income
from operations of $112 million, an increase of 9% when compared to the
first quarter of 2007. The Company reported first quarter 2008 net
income of $40 million, or $0.11 per common share, as compared to net
income of $36 million for the same period in 2007. The first quarter
2008 results include an impairment charge of $8 million related to the
Company’s investment in auction rate
securities. On a non-GAAP basis excluding the impairment charge, net
income would have been $48 million, or $0.13 per common share.