T-Mobile US Increases Target For 2018 Branded Postpaid Net Customer Additions

(RTTNews) - T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) announced, in 2018, the company expects postpaid net customer additions between 3.8 and 4.1 million, an increase and narrowing from the prior target range of 3.0 to 3.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be between $11.8 and $12.0 billion, an increase and narrowing from the prior target range of $11.5 to $11.9 billion. Including the estimated impact of the new revenue standard, adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase by an additional $0.2 to $0.5 billion for a total guidance range of $12.0 to $12.5 billion. For full-year 2018, the company continues to expect branded postpaid phone ARPU to be generally stable compared to full-year 2017, excluding the impact from the new revenue standard.

The three-year CAGR guidance (2016 - 2019) for net cash provided by operating activities and Free Cash Flow is unchanged at 7% - 12% and 46% - 48%, respectively.

For the third-quarter, total revenues increased 8% year-over-year to a record-high $10.8 billion, driven primarily by growth in service revenues and equipment revenues. Total service revenues increased 6% year-over-year to $8.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15% year-over-year to a record-high $3.2 billion. EPS was $0.93, up 48% year-over-year. Free Cash Flow decreased 3% year-over-year to $890 million.

Total net customer additions were 1.6 million in third-quarter of 2018, bringing total customer count to 77.2 million. Branded postpaid net customer additions were 1.1 million, up 262,000 from prior year.

T-Mobile noted that the company is building out 5G in six of the Top 10 markets, including New York and Los Angeles, and hundreds of cities across the U.S. in 2018. The network will be ready for the introduction of the first 5G smartphones in 2019. T-Mobile plans on the delivery of a nationwide 5G network in 2020.