By Maria Armental
Crown Castle International Corp.'s (CCI) earnings surged in the
first three months of the year, its first full quarter operating as
a real-estate investment trust.
The Houston-based cell tower company also said it increased the
midpoint of its outlook for site rental revenue and adjusted
earnings for the year.
The company's results have benefited from growing demand for
faster data and acquisitions, including a deal late last year with
AT&T Inc. (T) to buy the rights to about 9,100 towers and own
outright 600 towers.
The REIT designation, typically used for companies that manage
real estate for profit, allows companies to avoid most corporate
taxes as long as they pay at least 90% of their taxable income
through dividends to shareholders.
For the first quarter, Crown Castle reported earnings of $90.5
million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $15.4 million, or 5
cents a share, a year earlier.
In January, the company had projected per-share earnings of 27
cents to 37 cents.
Revenue jumped 18% to $876 million while gross margin narrowed
to 28.7% from 31.8% a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson
Reuters had projected $853.89 million in revenue.
Meanwhile, adjusted funds from operations increased 33% to $349
million from $263 million a year earlier.
Shares were inactive in after-hours trading and closed Wednesday
at $74.85. They are up slightly for the year.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
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