Dec 31, 2019

Crown Castle Q4 2019 Earnings Report

Crown Castle reported a slowdown in activity in Q4 2019 but delivered a strong year of results for full year 2019. The company updated its full year 2020 Outlook and announced a restatement of financial results.

Key Takeaways

Crown Castle International Corp. reported its Q4 and full year 2019 results. The company experienced a slowdown in activity during the fourth quarter but remains optimistic about a return to significant activity in the second half of 2020. They updated their full year 2020 Outlook and announced a restatement of previously-issued financial statements.

Experienced highest level of tower leasing activity in more than a decade.

Delivered another strong year of results for full year 2019 despite a noticeable slowdown in activity in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Expect activity levels across the industry to increase throughout the year and potentially beyond as customers accelerate their investments in 5G.

Targeting 7% to 8% annual growth in dividends per share.

Total Revenue
$1.43B
Previous year: $1.42B
+0.7%
EPS
$1.38
Previous year: $1.42
-2.8%
Total Towers
40K
Route Miles of Fiber
80K
Gross Profit
$945M
Previous year: $936M
+1.0%
Cash and Equivalents
$196M
Previous year: $277M
-29.2%
Total Assets
$38.5B
Previous year: $32.8B
+17.4%

Crown Castle

Crown Castle

Crown Castle Revenue by Segment

Forward Guidance

Crown Castle provided its outlook for full year 2020, anticipating continued growth and investment in 5G infrastructure.

Positive Outlook

  • Strong underlying demand for communications infrastructure assets.
  • Ability to translate growth in data demand into growth in dividends per share.
  • Customers will accelerate their investments in 5G.
  • Targeting 7% to 8% annual growth in dividends per share.
  • Expect financial performance in 2020 will be more back-end loaded than previously expected, particularly for services contribution.

Challenges Ahead

  • Uncertainty around the outcome of the pending merger between T-Mobile and Sprint led to lower activity levels in the fourth quarter of 2019 that we believe will continue through the first quarter of 2020.
  • Impact of the restatement we disclosed today.
  • Capital expenditures to (2,059) million
  • Payments for acquisitions, net of cash acquired(17) million
  • Other investing activities, net(7) million

Revenue & Expenses

Visualization of income flow from segment revenue to net income