Alltel Misses on Quarter

Alltel (AT Quote) missed first-quarter earnings targets despite a record gain in new subscribers.

The Little Rock, Ark., wireless telco made $230 million, or 64 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, down from the year-ago $297 million, or 77 cents a share. Sales rose 13% from a year ago to $2.08 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a 66-cent profit on sales of $2.10 billion.

"This was a record-setting quarter for Alltel in both our financial and operational results," said CEO Scott Ford. "We are continuing to win new customers in the market, as demonstrated by new records in wireless revenues, operating income and customer growth."

Postpay net additions were 109,000, a 102% increase from a year ago, and prepay net additions were 128,000, an increase of 15%. Total net adds were a record 237,000.

Postpay churn, measuring monthly customer defections, was 1.33%, and total churn was 1.77%. Both are record lows for Alltel and year-over-year improvements for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Average revenue per wireless customer was $52.49, a 2% increase from last year. Data revenue per customer was $4.70, up 64% from last year and 14% sequentially.