SBA Communications reports Q4 FFO $3.37, consensus $3.32

Reports Q4 revenue $675.1M, consensus $682.2M. “We had a strong finish to 2023, exceeding our outlook for Site Leasing Revenue, Tower Cash Flow, Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO,” commented Brendan Cavanagh, President and Chief Executive Officer. “While domestic carrier activity was at a low level by historical standards during 2023, a significant percentage of our sites still require 5G related upgrades, and with the growing success of products such as Fixed Wireless Access, the demand for improved speeds, lower latency and greater network capacity continues to advance. This dynamic bodes well for solid organic leasing growth on our U.S. assets for years to come. Internationally, we continued to experience strong demand for our towers across many of our markets and have become a trusted partner to our international carrier customers. 2023 was a year marked by higher interest rates than we have seen throughout much of our history. As a result, we directed a significant portion of our allocable capital into reducing some of our highest cost debt, and we ended the year with a net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio of 6.3x, the lowest level in decades. Notwithstanding the higher cost of borrowing and the slower pace of organic leasing activity, we still produced fourth quarter AFFO/share growth of 8.0% over the fourth quarter of 2022. Our business remains steady, and we continue to produce significant free cash flow. As a result, today we announced an increase in our quarterly dividend of 15%. While a sizeable increase, this dividend on an annual basis represents less than 30% of our AFFO in our 2024 Outlook, meaning that we still have significant capital available for potential portfolio growth and stock repurchases. The strength and quality of our core business gives me great confidence about our prospects to create increased value for our shareholders for years into the future.”