It doesn't look good for sprint when Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse, 54, is firing 4,000 workers, closing outlets and discounting wireless phone plans after the stock lost more than half its value in the past year. Sprint had a $29.2 billion loss in the fourth quarter after writing down most of the purchase of Nextel. The company had previously put that loss at $29.5 billion.Sprint may seek to dispose of Nextel or find a buyer for the entire company, the Wall Street Journal said last week.
Since taking over in December, Hesse has redone Sprint's advertisements, scrapped the dividend and borrowed $2.5 billion under a credit line. He also plans to close about 125 of Sprint's company-owned stores, or about 8 percent.Sprint unveiled a plan last week to merge its new high-speed mobile network with Clearwire Corp. to save money and get a leg up on bigger rivals. Sprint will get majority ownership of the first national WiMax network, which will be able to reach speeds up to five times faster than the technology his rivals now use.
Sprint lost 1.07 million contract customers last quarter, fewer than forecast, and said the declines will improve ``marginally'' this quarter. Customers have fled over complaints about service after the $36 billion acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. Nextel may be worth as little as $5 billion now.
Sprint lays off 4,000 employees, closes stores, cuts rates; may sell off assets
Subscribe to:
