Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Dan Hesse had little good news to share Monday on the eve of addressing his first shareholder meeting as chief executive of the troubled wireless carrier.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint reported a larger first-quarter loss brought on by falling revenue, charges for severance and other costs and the exodus of more than a million monthly subscribers.

The company also announced it was exploring the possible sale of noncore assets, though officials didn't give any specifics.

Sprint shares fell 14 cents to $9.24 in trading Monday.

Hesse, who will speak Tuesday at the company's annual meeting in Reston, Va., continued to ask for patience as the company tries to surmount a raft of structural, technical and perceptional problems that have allowed Sprint to fall far behind rivals AT&T Mobility and Verison Wireless.

"The turnover will take many quarters, however, we are acting quickly and decisively to improve our performance," he told analysts during a conference call.

The company said it lost $505 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31 compared with a loss of $211 million, or 7 per share, during the first quarter of last year.

Not including a number of one-time charges, including $231 million for severance and asset impairment and $86 million in deal-related costs, the company said it earned 4 cents per share, compared to 18 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue fell 7.5 percent to $9.3 billion from $10.1 billion a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 2 cents per share on $9.4 billion in sales.

Sprint, which has struggled since buying Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005, said its total subscriber base fell by 1.09 million to 52.8 million, including the loss of 1.07 million post-paid customers who pay a monthly bill.

That was actually smaller than the 1.2 million in post-paid losses the company had forecast last quarter.

Post-paid churn, or the measure of customers dropping service, was 2.45 percent during the quarter, an increase from the first quarter of 2007 and last quarter. Average revenue generated per post-paid user fell 6 percent from last year to $56.

"As expected, our wireless business delivered weak financial results," Hesse said. "While the business will continue to face challenges in the short term, we are making progress in methodically attacking the sources of our performance issues." Continued...