American Tower Corporation (AMT) yesterday reported financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019.
“American Tower delivered another year of strong performance in 2019, including Organic Tenant Billings Growth of more than 7 percent in the U.S.,” said American Tower CEO Jim Taiclet. “We also added nearly 14,000 communications sites to our portfolio via high quality acquisitions in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa and the most substantial build-to-suit construction program in the company’s history.
Moreover, we again increased our dividend by 20 percent and simultaneously strengthened our investment-grade balance sheet with a number of refinancing transactions that reduced our cost of debt and extended maturities.”
Looking ahead, Taiclet said: “In 2020, we expect to make sustained progress in each of the key elements of our ‘stand and deliver’ strategy to advance the company’s vision of making wireless communication possible everywhere. By pursuing a broader leadership role in the industry, innovating for a 5G future, driving efficiency both internally and for our tenants, and thoughtfully growing our asset base, we are confident in our ability to continue to deliver strong cash flow growth while expanding return on invested capital going forward.”
“Mixed Q4’19 print as revenue was light of our estimates and Street expectations,” according to Jennifer Fritzsche, Wells Fargo Senior Analyst, “but EBITDA and AFFO were both nicely ahead. Development services revenue was weak, which we suspect was driven by the lower Q4 carrier activity driven by the uncertainty of the S/TMUS merger. The good news is first look at 2020 guide looks solidly in-line to slightly ahead of our expectations (and Street) for revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and AFFO. Digging deeper, the expectations for U.S. revenue growth y/y is a little light of where we were.”
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