Crown Castle Releases 2Q Reports

Crown Castle released their 2Q report for the second quarter, which ended on June 30, 2013. The outlook is positive for Crown Castle as they produced an AFFO (Adjusted Funds From Operations) per share of $1.04, which is up 41% from the same quarter last year.

Ben Moreland, Crown Castle’s President and Chief Executive Officer shared that, “In addition, we saw a significant increase in leasing activity as all four major carriers in the US continued upgrading their networks for LTE and capacity enhancements. In fact, revenue from tenant additions approximately doubled in the second quarter of 2013, compared to the second quarter of 2012, reflecting the shift in activity towards network densification as carriers strive to improve network quality and to add capacity through cell-splitting to meet the increasing demand for mobile technology.”

Total Revenue for the second quarter increased 26% to $735 million from $586 million for the same period in 2012. Site rental revenue for the second quarter of 2013 increased $99 million, or 19%, to $617 million from $518 million for the same period in the prior year. Site rental gross margin, defined as site rental revenue less site rental cost of operations, increased $52 million, or 13%, to $438 million in the second quarter of 2013 from $386 million in the same period in 2012. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2013 increased $66 million, or 17%, to $444 million from $379 million in the same period in 2012.

The following table sets forth Crown Castle’s current Outlook for third quarter 2013 and full year 2013:

(in millions, except per share amounts)	Third Quarter 2013	Full Year 2013
Site rental revenues	$617 to $622	$2,471 to $2,481
Site rental cost of operations	$179 to $184	$711 to $721
Site rental gross margin	$437 to $442	$1,755 to $1,765
Adjusted EBITDA	$436 to $441	$1,750 to $1,760
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs(a)	$138 to $143	$581 to $591
FFO	$270 to $275	$1,022 to $1,032
AFFO	$299 to $304	$1,187 to $1,197
AFFO per share(b)	$1.02 to $1.04	$4.07 to $4.10
Net income (loss)	$28 to $68	$116 to $212
Net income (loss) per share – diluted(b)	$0.10 to $0.23	$0.40 to $0.73
(a) See the reconciliation of “Components of interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs” herein for a discussion of non-cash interest expense.
(b) Based on 291.8 million diluted shares outstanding as of June 30, 2013.