SBA Communications reports Q4 AFFO $3.12, consensus $3.13

Reports Q4 revenue $686.1M, consensus $680.57M. "We had a very solid finish to 2022, producing record annual results on a number of metrics and positioning us well for 2023," commented Jeffrey A. Stoops, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The US market remains active, with our largest US customers expected to all stay relatively busy with additional network deployment in 2023. We believe domestic activity will remain solid through 2023 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. 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. We grew our portfolio materially by 15%, 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. All of these favorable results allowed us to increase AFFO per share by double-digit percentages in the fourth quarter and for the full 2022 fiscal year over comparable prior periods. We are extremely confident and excited about our future, so much so that we have just approved an increase to our quarterly dividend of approximately 20%. While a substantial increase, this dividend on an annual basis represents only approximately 27% of our AFFO in our 2023 Outlook, leaving us 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."