American Tower Posts Another Revenue Increase

By Austen Hufford

American Tower Corp. increased profit and added to its steady string of revenue gains by a double-digit percentage as the cellular-tower company continues to use acquisitions to expand its footprint.

The Boston-based company leases, owns or operates some 143,000 towers in the U.S. and other countries. Recently, the company has snapped up rights to Verizon towers in the U.S., Telecom Italia's towers in Brazil and Airtel's towers in Nigeria and Tanzania. Earlier this month, it closed a deal to buy a majority stake in Viom towers, which owned and operated 42,000 sites in India.

The company spent $873 million on acquisitions in the most recent quarter.

For the current year, the company raised its revenue outlook, saying it expects double-digit percentage growth in key revenue metrics to continue. The company has posted at least 10% growth in quarterly and annual revenue since 2010.

It expects total property revenue, which doesn't include its small services segment, to be between $5.59 billion and $5.72 billion, or about 21% growth at the midpoint. It previously expected growth of between $5.54 billion and $5.68 billion. It reaffirmed net income expectations, expecting net income of between $1.01 billion and $1.12 billion.

In the quarter, the company posted a profit of $275.2 million, or 58 cents a share, up from $193.3 million, or 45 cents a share, a year prior.

Adjusted funds from operations rose to $1.41 a share from $1.25.

Revenue climbed 19% to $1.29 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast per-share earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $1.29 billion.

The business of cellphone towers, a crucial piece of infrastructure used to transmit wireless calls and data, is dominated by three large public companies, including American Tower, and dozens of smaller competitors.

U.S. revenue grew 19% to $852 million. International revenue grew 21% to $416 million, with 5.7% growth in Latin America, 71% growth in Europe, Middle East and Africa and 11% growth in Asia. Its small services segment grew 24% to $21 million.

Shares, which have rose 11% in the last three months, fell 0.8% in early trading.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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