Although they recorded increased revenues, two tower operators suffered net losses in their financial results for the fourth quarter of 2004 compared with the previous year.
For the full year, American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle had better results.
In a written note, Raymond James noted that the tower firms do not beat or miss their forecasts by much and have “room for more Re-Fi’s to reduce interest expense, even in a raising rate environment.” The note, authored by Ric Prentiss of Raymond James, said the companies’ customer bases are healthy “increasing cell site deployments to improve networks and roll out higher speed data networks.”
He noted that both companies are front-loaded by the slow-down in the AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. merger as well as T-Mobile USA Inc. holding off on the acquisition of the California/Nevada joint venture.
Crown Castle said it recorded a net loss of $88.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, including $39.4 million in losses from retirement of debt. This contrasts with a net loss of $162.2 million for the same period of 2003.
Net loss from operations for the full year stood at $306.9 million, including $63.8 million in losses from debt retirement. For the previous year, its net loss was $464.8 million, including $119.4 million for debt retirement.
Its net income for the full year stood at $235.1 million compared with a net loss of $454.9 million for the same period of 2003.
“We are pleased with the significant recurring revenue growth generated in 2004,” said John P. Kelly, president and CEO of Crown Castle. “U.S. site revenue increased approximately $4,100 per site over the past year to an annualized level of approximately $48,600 per site at year end.”
American Tower said it endured a net loss of $74 million, or 32 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2004. For the full year, its net loss was $247.6 million, or $1.10 per share.
The tower operator said its revenues increased 11 percent to $184.7 million for the fourth quarter and 12 percent to $706.7 million for the full year as compared with the same period the previous year.
“We fully expect to continue experiencing robust demand for tower space in 2005,” said Jim Taiclet, chairman and CEO of American Tower. “Subscriber growth remains a key driver of tower lease-up demand and we anticipate that new marketing and branding initiatives being launched or expanded by wireless carriers and MVNOs will attract major affinity groups, creating momentum for subscriber growth.”
