Sprint Profit Declines on International Losses
Sprint Corp. on Tuesday said fourth-quarter earnings dropped 46% as wider losses in its international and wireless ventures offset record revenue in its main long-distance business.
Sprint’s profit excluding gains fell to $151 million, or 35 cents a diluted share, down from $281.3 million, or 65 cents, excluding a charge, a year earlier. Sprint was expected to earn 38 cents diluted, according to IBES International Inc.
Sprint is spending more to build the overseas and wireless businesses. That spending is expected to hurt Sprint’s earnings this year, even though the company is adding long-distance customers faster than rivals AT&T; and MCI Communications.
Sprint rose 50 cents to close at $61.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Losses from new ventures such as the Global One partnership with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom and the Sprint PCS wireless businesses widened to 63 cents a share in the quarter from 20 cents a year earlier.
Separately, San Francisco-based AirTouch Communications Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings more than quadrupled as the wireless company said it added a record number of customers and turned in strong growth overseas.
Profit rose to $111 million, or 19 cents a diluted share, from $27 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Results include a benefit of a nickel a share from taxes and interconnect agreements. Excluding that, results matched analyst estimates of 14 cents per diluted share.
AirTouch added 1 million customers in the quarter, bringing its total to 10.7 million worldwide. Though new customer growth far outpaced analyst estimates, revenue and earnings were in line, reflecting greater competition in its U.S. markets.
Also:
Cisco Systems Inc., citing strong sales in American markets and improved European sales, said fiscal second-quarter profit rose 30%--the company’s 32nd consecutive quarter of revenue and earnings growth. The San Jose-based computer-networking company said net income rose to $457.3 million, or 43 cents a diluted share. That’s up from profit before charges of $351.9 million, or 34 cents, in the year-earlier period, adjusted for a 3-for-2 stock split Dec. 16. Cisco was expected to earn 42 cents, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by IBES International Inc. Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 24 rose 27%, to $2.02 billion from $1.59 billion.
* PepsiCo Inc. reported a huge increase in its fourth-quarter profit as the soft drink and snack maker reentered Venezuela and cut big losses in its international division. PepsiCo earned $401 million, or 25 cents per share on a diluted basis, in the final three months of 1997. A year earlier, the company earned $28 million, or 3 cents per share. Revenue rose to $6.26 billion from $6.05 billion.
* Colgate-Palmolive Co. said fourth-quarter profit rose 14% as more advertising and new products, such as Colgate Total toothpaste, boosted sales. Net income rose to $206.4 million, or 68 cents a basic share, from $181.7 million, or 60 cents.
* Whirlpool Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit rose 44%, in line with estimates, to $65 million, or 86 cents a diluted share, up from $45 million, or 59 cents, in the year-ago quarter.
* Chubb Corp. said it earned $174.5 million, or $1.01 a diluted share, from continuing operations in the fourth quarter, contrasted with a $4.9-million loss, or 2 cents, a year earlier.
* Palm Desert-based U.S. Filter Corp. reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $374.1 million, or $3.71 per share, after taking a $300-million charge for recent acquisitions, contrasted with net income of $6.3 million, or 9 cents, a year ago.
* Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty Corp. reported fourth-quarter net income of $8.8 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, compared with $6.5 million, or 34 cents, a year ago.
