Wireless carrier Sprint Nextel says it had a larger first-quarter loss as it continued to lose valuable monthly subscribers and had to pay for severance charges and other costs.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said Monday it lost $505 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31. That was larger than its loss of $211 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Not including one-time charges, the company says it earned 4 cents per share.

Sprint says its revenue fell 7.5 percent to $9.3 billion.

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

The company said it lost more than 1 million post-paid subscribers during the quarter.