Overland Park ? Sprint Corp. boosted its fourth quarter earnings forecast for its long-distance division on Thursday, but said revenues would decline this year and next.

The company also said it expected fewer wireless customers in the fourth quarter than previously estimated.

Sprint said cost-cutting measures were having an affect. It now expects fourth-quarter earnings per share of 37 cents to 39 cents for its long-distance division, compared with previous guidance of 34 cents to 36 cents. For all of 2002, earnings per share are expected to be $1 to $1.35 on revenues of $15.2 billion, compared with revenues of $16.92 billion in 2001. Sprint said an industry settlement on pay-phone access charges will boost earnings about 2 cents per share.

In 2003, Sprint expects earnings to reach $1.40 to $1.45 per share, though revenues are targeted to decline at a low single-digit rate to about $15 billion.

“After an extended period of price declines and overcapacity, we are starting to see the supply and demand equation rationalize,” Sprint chairman and chief executive officer William T. Esrey said in a news release.

Sprint, the nation’s third-largest long-distance provider and fourth-largest wireless provider, presented its updated financial guidance to its annual investment community meeting Thursday in New York.

The news comes a day after Sprint announced it would cut 2,100 jobs during the next year as it restructures operations and continues to reduce costs.

Shares of Sprint FON were up 94 cents to close at $14.56 in trading Thursday on the New York Stock exchange, while shares of PCS closed up 56 cents at $5.36.

Sprint said that overall it expected its wireless division to report a net gain of customers, with the final numbers largely dependent on new acquisitions during the final weeks of December. Sprint PCS’ “churn” rate, or customer turnover, is expected to improve to around 3.5 percent for the fourth quarter, up from 3.8 percent during the third quarter.