Wireless communication tower owners American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International Corp. and SpectraSite Inc. spoke at last week’s Raymond James & Associates Inc. Institutional Investors Conference, where all three companies expressed optimism for strong tower lease-ups in 2004.
American Tower said it expects industry to deploy between 14,050 and 17,650 towers in 2004, with increased activity from Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint PCS. The company said 14,900 towers were deployed in 2003.American Tower also discussed the potential impact of the AT&T Wireless Services Inc./Cingular merger on its business. The company said that in a worst-case scenario, which it noted is highly unlikely, it stands to lose $10 million, or 1 percent, in annual revenue due to 400 towers on which AWS and Cingular are co-located.
SpectraSite said it has received 6,000 search rings in recent months, many of which are located in the top 25 Basic Trading Areas, where 41 percent of the company’s towers are located. “Clearly, [SpectraSite’s] tower portfolio seems well positioned relative to where carriers are looking to deploy sites,” read a Raymond James research note.
In other tower news last week:
SpectraSite announced it has completed the sale of its broadcast services division to Doty, Moore & Hoenninger L.L.C., an investment vehicle owned by members of the broadcast group’s existing management team. The sale transforms SpectraSite “into a pure play, recurring revenue-based company focused entirely on revenues derived from site leasing and licensing,” said Stephen Clark, the company’s president and chief executive.
SBA Communications Corp. announced it has redeemed the remaining $46.3 million of its 12 percent senior discount notes due 2008 for $49.8 million cash.
Crown said it will recognize the loss related to extinguishing tendered 9 percent and 9.5 percent senior notes in the first quarter of this year, which will decrease its previously reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2003 net loss. Net loss for the fourth quarter 2003 will now be $100.3 million, and $22.5 million from the tendered senior notes will be recorded in this quarter.
