Crown Castle reported profits of $251 million for the second quarter of 2024, down 45% from the same period last year amid an ongoing pullback in capital expenditures by mobile network operators.
Net income was also impacted by a $45 million charge related to an ongoing restructuring plan that was announced last month, the company noted.
Site rental revenues were down 9% year-on-year to $1.5 billion; this was impacted by former Sprint site cancellations and a decrease in amortization of prepaid rent, according to Crown Castle.
However, Crown is still in the black for the quarter and on track to meet its full-year guidance, company executives emphasized. It expects that for the full year, consolidated rental billings growth (excluding the Sprint cancellations impact) will be 5%; that figure is inclusive of a 4.5% contribution from towers, 15% from small cells and 2% from fiber solutions, according to the company.
Crown Castle is also exploring strategic alternatives for its fiber business and announced in June that it would be focusing its capital spending on locations that are on or near its current footprint and most likely to be high-return projects, in order to lower its own capex spending. In conjunction with that, Crown also said that it is reducing staffing levels and closing some of its offices, to the tune of about $100 million in annual operating expense savings.
“Having implemented the operational changes announced in June, we delivered second quarter results in line with expectations and remain on track to meet our full year guidance,” said Dan Schlanger, Crown Castle’s CFO. “The business continues to perform well as we focus on delivering for our customers and shareholders. The resilience of our top-line growth is complemented by our strong balance sheet, which is well-positioned to provide stability and flexibility as we continue to evaluate strategic paths forward.”
Steven Moskowitz, Crown Castle’s CEO, said that the second quarter results “demonstrated the durability and consistency of Crown Castle’s business.” He added that the company had already changed up its approach to small cell anchor builds and fiber builds. “Through a comprehensive review of customer needs, we are finding solutions that utilize more of our existing fiber network, enabling us to limit new greenfield investments,” Moskowitz added.
