Sprint Nextel, the third largest US mobile phone carrier, has stated that its quarterly profits were hurt by the integration of Nextel Communications following its $36 billion acquisition by Sprint in August 2005. Its fourth-quarter profits fell 55 per cent to $197 million, or 7 cents a share, from $437 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier, in spite of a 63 per cent increase in sales to $11.3 billion.
Merger integration costs were $204 million.
