Sprint earnings beat estimates

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Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2000 | 11:59 a.m.

Sprint, the dominant phone company in Las Vegas, today posted a better than expected 3 percent rise in fourth quarter net income.

Sprint cited the success of its Sprint Nickel Nights calling plan, new business phone service contracts and strong demand for data services.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Sprint reported net income of $416 million or 47 cents a share, up from $404 million or 47 cents in the year-ago quarter. The mean estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial was for a profit of 39 cents per share.

Revenue increased 8 percent to $4.41 billion.

Kansas City-based Sprint is merging with MCI WorldCom Inc. in a deal the companies say will create a tougher competitor to AT&T and the Baby Bell regional telephone companies.