GTE <GTE> CITES LOSS OF SPRINT
GTE Corp said the decline in its
first quarter net income reflects a 121 mln dlr loss from its
50 pct share ownership of U.S. Sprint's operations.
    This loss is an increase from the 60 mln dlrs loss reported
on operations GTE owned a year ago quarter and prior to
entering a joint venture with United Telecommunications <UT> in
July 1986. Under the joint venture, each company owns 50 pct of
Sprint.
    Earlier, the company reported net income declined to 265.0
mln dlrs from 283.0 mln dlrs in the first quarter a year ago.
    Theodore Brophy, chairman of GTE said, "we expect US
Sprint's losses to diminish later this year as customer traffic
migrates to the new fiber-optic network for long distance
telecommunications.
    The reason for the higher losses reflect lower prices as
well as higher operating costs related, in part, to the
fraudalent use of the network.
    Operating income of its telephone operations, which account
for 91 pct of the total, rose eight pct to 736.0 mln dlrs. 
Revenues from telephone operations rose eight pct to 2.9
billion dlrs.
 Reuter
