Crown Castle International Reports Record First Quarter Results
For the three months ended March 31, 1999, revenues increased to $55.1 million from $11.8 million during the same period in 1998. Tower cash flow increased to $24.7 million from $3.5 million last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, grew to $20.4 million for the first quarter before restructuring charges, compared to $1.1 million in last years first quarter. On a pro forma basis, annualized same tower revenues increased 29 percent for over 1,100 towers owned and managed as of March 31, 1998.
In connection with the Company's formation of its joint venture with Bell Atlantic Mobile, Crown Castle completed a restructuring of its US operations from a centralized organization to a regionally-based organization during the first quarter of 1999. Coincident with this action, the Company incurred one-time restructuring charges of $1.8 million related to severance payments for staff reductions and non-cancelable leases of office space.
"We continue to be pleased with our performance in both the US and the UK during the first quarter of 1999," stated Ted B. Miller, Jr., CEO of Crown Castle International. "First quarter highlights included being selected as the outsourcing partner of choice for major tower clusters from BellSouth and PowerTel in the US and One2One in the UK. The BellSouth transaction was the second major RBOC tower transaction in the US and adds 1,850 towers to our portfolio. The Powertel transaction adds 650 towers to our portfolio and represents the first PCS carrier tower transaction in the US. The One2One transaction adds 821 towers and is the first outsourcing of tower assets in the UK. Also, we completed the Bell Atlantic Mobile transaction on schedule at the end of the first quarter, which added over 1,400 towers to our portfolio.
"Pro forma for all closed and pending transactions, we own, operate, and manage over 6,000 wireless communications towers internationally," continued Mr. Miller. "In the United States, we will offer coverage in 26 of the top 50 markets, including 15 of the top 24 markets east of the Mississippi. Additionally in the UK, we offer near universal coverage in broadcast and significant coverage in wireless telephony.
"I am also pleased with how smoothly and quickly our integration teams have moved to create the appropriate changes to processes, people and technology related to increasing our organizations infrastructure and capacity," added Mr. Miller. "As we integrate significantly more tower clusters, our core operational platform and rapid transition integration model enables us to incorporate new assets, personnel and geographic regions promptly in order to quickly realize the marketing potential of the new assets."
Crown Castle International Corp. is a leading provider of communication sites and wireless network services and provides an array of related infrastructure and network support services to the wireless communications and radio and television broadcasting industries in the United States and United Kingdom. Pro forma for the BellSouth, One2One, and Powertel transactions, Crown Castle International owns, operates and manages over 6,000 communication tower sites. For more information on Crown Castle International, visit: www.crowncastle.com.
This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on managements belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected.
Crown Castle International Corp.
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
And Other Financial Data
(in thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended March 31, |
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1999 |
1998 |
|||
| Net revenues: | ||||
| Site rental and broadcast transmission | $ 45,326 | $ 5,061 | ||
| Network services and other | 9,783 | 6,776 | ||
| Total net revenues | 55,109 | 11,837 | ||
| Costs of operations: | ||||
| Site rental and broadcast transmission | 18,527 | 1,172 | ||
| Network services and other | 6,982 | 4,421 | ||
| Total costs of operations | 25,509 | 5,593 | ||
| General and administrative | 8,304 | 3,803 | ||
| Corporate development | 874 | 1,331 | ||
| Restructuring charges | 1,814 | | ||
| Non-cash compensation charges | 667 | | ||
| Depreciation and amortization | 19,656 | 3,604 | ||
| Operating income (loss) | (1,715) | (2,494) | ||
|
| (99) | ||
| Interest and other income (expense) | 340 | 706 | ||
|
(11,286) | (4,706) | ||
|
(12,661) | (6,593) | ||
| Provision for income taxes | (127) | (13) | ||
| Minority interests | (685) |
|
||
| Loss before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle | (13,473) | (6,606) | ||
| Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle for costs of start-up activities | (2,414) | | ||
| Net loss | (15,887) | (6,606) | ||
|
(6,408) |
(2,055) |
||
|
$ (22,295) | $ (8,661) | ||
| Loss per common share basic and diluted | $ (0.24) | $ (0.79) | ||
|
94,732 | 10,954 | ||
| EBITDA (before restructuring charges): | ||||
| Site rental and broadcast transmission | $ 24,658 | $ 3,490 | ||
| Network services and other | (4,236) | (2,380) | ||
| Total EBITDA | $ 20,422 | $ 1,110 | ||