Sprint Corp. on Wednesday said profit more than doubled in the first quarter as a surge in its wireless business offset flat or declining sales in local and long-distance phone service.

For the three months ending March 31, the Overland Park-based telecommunications company said income jumped to $472 million, or 31 cents per share, from $223 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had estimated earnings of 32 cents per share.

Sprint shares closed down 3 cents at $22.51 in trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Overall quarterly revenue was $6.94 billion, up 3 percent from $6.71 billion a year earlier.

At its wireless business, Sprint said operating revenue increased 13 percent to $3.87 billion. The subscriber base jumped by 1.3 million, including 518,000 through Sprint directly, 621,000 from wholesale agreements and 166,000 through Sprint affiliates.