SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) reported results for the fourth quarter of 2022, citing record annual results on a number of metrics. Jeffrey Stoops, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will be stepping down at the end of 2023, said the U.S. market remains active, with its largest U.S. customers expected to all stay relatively busy with additional network deployment in 2023.
“We believe domestic activity will remain solid through 2023,” Stoops said, “and perhaps beyond, given the size and scope of our customers’ 5G deployment plans and our belief that much 5G work remains to be done on our assets.”
Highlights of the fourth quarter include:
- Net income of $102.6 million or $0.94 per share
- AFFO per share increased 11.0 percent over the prior year
- Total revenue of $686.1 million, representing a 15.3 percent growth over the prior year
- Portfolio growth of 15.0 percent for the year, including 2,792 sites added during the quarter
- Refinanced the 2018-1C Tower Securities making the next scheduled debt maturity October 2024
Stoops said International results were strong as well in the fourth quarter, and gross leasing demand is expected to remain solid internationally.
“Last year was a remarkable year in terms of portfolio growth and balance sheet management,” he said. “We grew our portfolio materially by 15 percent, providing us with additional growth assets in several markets. We were still able to end the year with our balance sheet in great shape, below the low end of our target net debt/Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio as we used AFFO to reduce floating-rate debt in a materially higher interest rate environment.”
The company reported that all of these favorable results allowed it to increase AFFO per share by double-digit percentages in the fourth quarter and for the full 2022 fiscal year over comparable prior periods.
Stoops expressed his confidence in the company’s future adding it had approved an increase to its quarterly dividend of approximately 20 percent. The dividend represents approximately 27 percent of the company’s AFFO in its 2023 Outlook. Stoops said that leaves SBA with substantial capital for additional investment in portfolio growth and stock repurchases and/or additional floating-rate leverage reduction while interest rates remain higher.
“We believe we offer our shareholders very favorable prospects for additional value creation,” he said.
In addition, the company announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.85 per share of the company’s Class A Common Stock, an increase of approximately 20 percent over the dividend paid in the fourth quarter. The distribution is payable March 24, 2023, to the shareholders of record at the close of business on March 10, 2023.
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