DOW JONES NEWSWIRES American Tower Corp.'s (AMT) second-quarter earnings rose 16% as the rental and management business drove revenue growth, though network-development services revenue fell slightly. The cell-tower operator, with sites in the U.S., Latin America, India and South Africa, has seen its sales and profit grow in recent quarters, helped by strong demand for broadband-data services in the U.S. and its ongoing global expansion. American Tower expects to have nearly as many towers in its international operations as in the U.S. by the end of 2011 and has said the deployment of 4G networks in the U.S. will provide ongoing revenue growth for the next few years. American Tower reported a profit of $115.2 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $99.7 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 27% to $597.2 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 23 cents on revenue of $585 million. Operating margin fell to 37.8% from 40.2%. Revenue grew 28% for the rental and management business, which makes up a bulk of the top line, while network-development services revenue slipped 0.4%. Shares closed Monday at $52.50 and were inactive premarket. The stock has risen 12% over the past year. -By Melodie Warner, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2283; melodie.warner@dowjones.com
