MetroPCS roars in Q2 with strong profit, subscriber growth

MetroPCS (NASDAQ:PCS) posted solid second-quarter results, and the flat-rate, prepaid carrier also said it is still on track to launch LTE services later this year.

The company reported net income of $80 million in the quarter, up 205 percent from $26 million in the year-ago quarter. MetroPCS attributed its results to healthy subscriber additions and low churn. The results are in stark contrast to rival Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP), which on Tuesday reported a net loss of $19.3 million and a net subscriber loss of 112,000 customers.

Here's a breakdown of Metro's key metrics:

Subscribers: MetroPCS posted record second quarter net subscriber additions of 303,000, up from 205,000 in the second quarter of 2009. The carrier had 692,000 net subscriber additions in the first quarter, when prepaid carriers perform better on a seasonal basis.

Revenue: The carrier's total revenue came in at $1.01 billion in the quarter, up from $860 million in the year-ago period. Service revenue clocked in at $922 million, up from $767 million in the year-ago quarter. 

Churn: Churn dropped to 3.3 percent from 5.8 percent in the second quarter of 2009. MetroPCS blamed the decline on the success of its "Wireless for All" offerings (which include taxes and fees in the price) as well as a decline in false churn since the company no longer offers its first month of service for free.

ARPU: Average revenue per user dipped slightly to $39.84 from $40.52 in the second quarter of 2009. 

For more:
- see this release
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article (sub. req.)
- see this Reuters article
- check out the FierceWireless Q2 earnings page

Related Articles:
FCC approves Samsung LTE phone, likely for MetroPCS
Leap strikes MVNO deal with Sprint, posts Q2 subscriber loss
Leap overhauls voice plans, intros tiered data pricing
MetroPCS to skip 3G with LTE rollout?