Sprint loses more phone subscribers than feared in 4th quarter

Sprint Corp on Tuesday reported deeper losses than feared of monthly phone subscribers despite discount offerings, raising concerns that the wireless carrier may not be sustainable if its pending merger with T-Mobile is not approved.

Sprint said it lost a net 189,000 phone subscribers during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting a net loss of 117,000, according to research firm FactSet. Sprint shares fell more than 4 percent in extended trade.

The U.S. telecommunications firm, which is backed by Japan’s Softbank, also reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss of 4 cents per share. Analysts were expecting a loss of 1 cent per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.