T-Mobile exec: ‘We’re optimistic and confident’ Sprint merger will win approval

Sprint and T-Mobile added a combined 1.636 million new wireless connections to their networks and earned profits of $176 million and $782 million respectively this spring, the companies’ latest updates showed.

News of Sprint’s gains came early Wednesday but with virtually no input from new CEO Michel Combes on how their efforts to merge were going.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who will lead the combined companies if they’re allowed to merge, filled in the missing message in an afternoon conference call with analysts once financial markets had closed.

“We are optimistic and confident that regulators will recognize the significant pro-competitive benefits of this combination and grant regulatory approval,” Legere said in his prepared remarks.

T-Mobile and Sprint officials repeatedly have pledged that a combined company would be able to build a far better 5G advanced network than either could alone. They’ve promised also that their combined resources and size, which will be similar to rivals AT&T and Verizon in terms of customers, will allow the newly merged wireless company to cut prices.

Both companies reported gains in their most valuable phone customers and among lower-revenue phone customers who buy service month to month. In each area, the larger T-Mobile reported the larger gains and results.

At Sprint, total wireless network connections reached 54.567 million at the end of June. T-Mobile said it had 75.619 million.

Sprint’s $176 million profit had declined from $206 million in the same quarter a year ago. T-Mobile’s $782 million profit was up from $581 million a year earlier. Both reports covered results during April, May and June.

Revenues in the quarter reached $8.13 billion at Sprint and $10.57 billion at T-Mobile.

During their separate sessions with analysts, executives at each company said they were “balancing” growth and profitability, which is an indication that steep price discounts and promotions have taken a vacation, at least for now. Such tactics help wireless competitors lure away each others’ customers but curb the financial rewards for the companies.

Sprint’s report covered the first quarter of its fiscal year, which began April 1 and runs through the end of March. Three months ago, the company reported its first annual profit in 11 years.

This story was originally published August 1, 2018 at 7:06 AM.