Sprint loses $29 billion in last quarter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sprint Nextel Corp. showed more signs Thursday that its recovery will be long and painful as it recorded a massive fourth-quarter loss, predicted continued customer weakness and pulled the plug on paying dividends.

The nation's third-largest wireless carrier, which has operations in Oak Brook and downtown Chicago, also unveiled a $99.99 unlimited calling and data services plan that establishes a new target in a burgeoning wireless price war. However, it warned that even that wasn't the "silver bullet" needed to cure its ills.

"Our business is not performing well right now," Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse told analysts during a conference call. "We are working aggressively to turn this around but our financial performance will not improve overnight."

Blaming instability in the credit markets, Sprint Nextel said that it was not declaring dividends for the "foreseeable future" and was borrowing $2.5 billion from a revolving credit facility to improve the company's "financial flexibility." It said it still had $500 million in the credit facility.

Company shares closed down 86 cents, or 9.6 percent, to $8.09 Thursday after sinking to a new 52-week low of $7.75 earlier in the session.

Sprint Nextel, based in Overland Park, Kan., said it lost $29.5 billion, or $10.36 per share, during the quarter ending Dec. 31. By comparison, the company earned $261 million, or 9 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.