WorldCom And Sprint Ring Up More Bad Telecom NewsWorldCom And Sprint Ring Up More Bad Telecom News

Amid continued telecom gloom, about the best anyone can say about the financial results from WorldCom and Sprint last week is that they could've been worse.

Net income for WorldCom (WCOM-Nasdaq) last year sank to $1.40 billion, down 55% from 2000 as revenue slipped 6% to $21.35 billion. For the fourth quarter, net income dropped 48% to $305 million on revenue of $5.30 billion, a 10% slide from a year ago. Investors were relieved to learn that WorldCom didn't face major losses from deals with recently bankrupted Global Crossing. But CEO Bernie Ebbers also lowered the company's projections for revenue growth this year to the mid-single digits.

"Even though the specific results were down on a year-to-year and quarter-to-quarter basis, things seem to be stabilizing," says Russ McGuire, chief strategist at consulting firm TeleChoice.

Earlier, Sprint released disappointing results for its local phone and long-distance FON Group and its wireless PCS Group. The two businesses lost $1.24 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31 and $1.41 billion for the year, including one-time write-offs. Annual revenue rose 9% to $26.07 billion.