LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - US telecoms group Sprint Corporation saw net losses widen in the second quarter as more than 90,000 mobile phone subscribers quit the service.
Sprint, which is awaiting approval for a $26bn agreed merger with T-Mobile, said the second-quarter net loss was $274m, compared to net income of $196m in the same three months a year earlier.

Total operating revenues were $7.8bn, below analysts' forecast for around $8.2bn and down from the $8.4bn posted in the second quarter of 2018.

Sprint also said it had lost 91,000 mobile phone customers who pay a monthly bill - known as postpaid subscribers - during the quarter, although that beat analysts' forecasts. Wall Street had predicted Sprint would lose around 145,000 postpaid subscribers.

Sprint is struggling to compete with larger rivals, and earlier this year finally struck a deal to merger with T-Mobile; talks between the two sides had previously broken down twice before.

The deal received approval from the Department of Justice in the summer after both companies agreed to divest $5bn of assets. But a number of attorney generals have filed lawsuits seeking to block the merger on competition grounds.

Commenting on the second-quarter numbers, Michael Combes, Sprint chief executive, said: "I am proud of the resiliency of the Sprint team as they work to deliver results in a challenging environment.

"However, I remain convinced that merging with T-Mobile and building one of the world's most advanced 5G networks is the best outcome for all consumers, employees and shareholders."

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