ATN Board Renews Share Repurchase Authority and Increases Quarterly Dividend
September 19 2016 - 09:12AM
ATN (NASDAQ:ATNI) announced that its Board of Directors has
authorized the repurchase of up to $50.0 million of the Company’s
common stock from time to time on the open market or in privately
negotiated transactions. The new authorization replaces the
Company’s existing $5.0 million repurchase authority adopted in
2004.
“We have recently used most of what remains of our existing
stock repurchase facility,” said Michael Prior, ATN’s Chief
Executive Officer, “so we thought it important to replenish our
capacity and to set it at a level more consistent with our market
capitalization. Much like our investments in new operating
businesses, we plan on deploying capital in a stock buyback
opportunistically and with an eye on the long-term costs and
benefits in comparison with other potential uses of shareholder
capital. There is no plan to spend a certain amount by
a certain time, or at all. For us this is no different
than ensuring we have an adequate line of credit to utilize if and
when it’s advantageous.”
The timing and the amount of any repurchases of common stock
will be determined by ATN’s management based on its evaluation of
market conditions and other factors, including price, regulatory
requirements, capital availability and other potential uses of the
Company’s cash. Repurchases made on the open market may be executed
under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit common stock to be
repurchased when the Company might otherwise be precluded from
doing so under insider trading laws.
The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has
declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, payable on
October 7, 2016, on all common shares outstanding to stockholders
of record as of September 30, 2016. This is the eighteenth
consecutive year the Company has increased its dividend and
represents an increase of $0.02, or approximately 6.3%, over the
dividend paid the previous quarter.
About ATN
ATN International (Nasdaq:ATNI),
headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, provides
telecommunications services to rural, niche and other under-served
markets and geographies in the United
States, Bermuda and the Caribbean and owns and
operates solar power systems in select locations in the United
States and India. Through our operating subsidiaries, we (i)
provide both wireless and wireline connectivity to residential and
business customers, including a range of mobile wireless solutions,
local exchange services and broadband internet services, (ii)
provide distributed solar electric power to corporate, utility and
municipal customers and (iii) are the owner and operator of
terrestrial and submarine fiber optic transport systems. For more
information, please visit www.atni.com.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward
Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements relating to, among other matters, our plans with respect
to our share repurchases and the possible benefits to our
shareholders, management’s plans and strategy, and future results
of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on
estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions and are not
guarantees of future events or results. Actual future events
and results could differ materially from the events and results
indicated in these statements as a result of many factors,
including, among others, the following: (1) the general
performance of our operations, including operating margins,
revenues, and the future growth and retention of our subscriber
base and consumer demand for solar power; (2) government regulation
of our businesses, which may impact our FCC and other
telecommunications licenses or our renewables business; (3)
economic, political and other risks facing our operations; (4) our
ability to maintain favorable roaming arrangements; (5) our ability
to efficiently and cost-effectively upgrade our networks and IT
platforms to address rapid and significant technological
changes in the telecommunications industry; (6) the loss of or an
inability to recruit skilled personnel in our various
jurisdictions, including key members of management; (7) our ability
to find investment or acquisition or disposition opportunities that
fit our strategic goals for the Company and alternative uses of
cash; (8) increased competition; (9) our ability to operate in the
renewable energy industry; (10) our reliance on a limited number of
key suppliers and vendors for timely supply of equipment and
services relating to our network infrastructure; (11) the adequacy
and expansion capabilities of our network capacity and customer
service system to support our customer growth; (12) the occurrence
of weather events and natural catastrophes; (13) our continued
access to capital and credit markets; (14) our ability to realize
the value that we believe exists in our businesses; (15) the
possibility that share repurchases may be suspended or
discontinued; and (16) fluctuations in the market price of shares
of our common stock. These and other additional factors that may
cause actual future events and results to differ materially from
the events and results indicated in the forward-looking statements
above are set forth more fully under Item 1A “Risk Factors” of the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2015, filed with the SEC on February 29, 2016 and the other
reports we file from time to time with the SEC. The Company
undertakes no obligation and has no intention to update these
forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in
assumptions or changes in other factors that may affect such
forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
ATN International, Inc.
Justin D. Benincasa
Chief Financial Officer
978-619-1300
ATN (NASDAQ:ATNI)
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