Sprint Nextel Corp. showed more signs Thursday that its recovery will be long and painful as it recorded a massive fourth-quarter loss, predicted continued customer weakness and pulled the plug on paying dividends.

The company said that it was not declaring dividends for the “foreseeable future” and was borrowing $2.5 billion from a revolving credit facility to improve the company’s “financial flexibility.” It said it still had $500 million in the credit facility.

Company shares closed down 86 cents, or 9.6 percent, to $8.09 Thursday after sinking to a new 52-week low of $7.75 earlier in the session.