BOSTON—Citing accounting changes and an increase in outstanding shares, American Tower Corp. posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $87.3 million on revenues of $307.6 million. For the same period in 2004, the nation’s largest tower owner and operator reported a loss of $74 million on revenues of $184.7 million.
The company said its 67-percent increase in revenues was due in large part to its acquisition of SpectraSite Inc. in August 2005, which gave the company 10,000 additional towers.
During the quarter, the tower company built 64 new towers and set up 11 new in-building sites. The company also bought back $77 million worth of stock.
Looking forward, American Tower, which owns about 22,000 towers, said it expects to bring in about $1.2 billion in revenue this year as it finishes integrating SpectraSite’s towers into its offerings. In addition, the company said it is bidding on a project to set up sites in New York City’s subway stations that would enable cell phone use within the subway system.
Wall Street seemed to take the earnings news in stride as the company’s stock traded up about three percent to $32.40 per share.
