Sprint Loss Widens After IPhone Demand Boosts Subsidy Costs

Sprint Nextel, the third- largest U.S. wireless carrier, reported a wider fourth-quarter loss after demand for Apple’s iPhone boosted costs to subsidize the device.

The net loss expanded to $1.3 billion, or 43 cents a share, from $929 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier, Sprint said in a statement. The company said it had one-time costs of 8 cents a share from revaluing assets. Analysts predicted a loss of 38 cents, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sprint sold 1.8 million iPhones in the period, the first quarter of sales for the device the carrier is betting on to lure users and rebound from five years of losses. Sprint and larger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless buy iPhones from Apple and then sell them at a loss to get consumers to sign up for multiyear contracts.