Alltel plagued by acquisition expenses

Despite strong customer growth and a 10 percent increase in revenues, Alltel reported a loss of $69.9 million, due primarily to interest costs as well as depreciation and amortization expenses following the company's November 2007 merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners. Alltel, however, is expected to be acquired by Verizon Wireless. The deal, which was announced June 5, is expected to close by year-end.

Losses aside, Alltel had a strong quarter with revenues of $2.39 billion, an increase of 10 percent over the year prior. Here's a rundown of the other metrics:

[1]New subscribers: Alltel had total net adds of 319,687 (up from 181,494 in the prior year) and gross adds of 1 million, a 37 percent increase over the prior year. The company's total subscriber base is now 13.4 million.

ARPU: Average revenue per user was $54.42, up 1 percent from last year. Data revenue was $8.18, up 45 percent year over year.

Churn: Postpay churn was 1.21 percent and total churn was 1.92 percent.

For more:
- see this press release
[2]- Also check out our compilation of all the second quarter metrics from the top wireless carriers here [1].

Related articles:
Leap and others asks FCC to deny Verizon/Alltel merger [3]
Verizon snaps up Alltel [4] for $28.1B