American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2013 results before markets opened Tuesday. The cellular tower REIT posted diluted net income per share of $0.25 and $941.97 million in revenues. In the same period a year ago, the company reported net income per share of $0.34 on revenue of $768.37 million. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for net income per share of $0.47 and $920.07 million in revenue.
For the full year, American Tower posted net income per share of $1.38 on revenues of $3.36 billion, compared with prior year net income per share of $1.60 on revenues of $2.88 billion. The consensus estimates called for net income per share of $1.62 on revenues of $3.34 billion.
The decline in net income in the fourth quarter was attributed to a non-cash loss of $60 million due to the negative impact of currency exchange rates. Full-year net income fell 13.5%, again mostly due to a currency exchange rate non-cash loss of $211.7 million.
Cash flow from operations rose 13.1% to $1.6 billion for the year.
American Tower’s share price has risen about 13% in the past 12 months and just 4.4% in the year to date. The stock’s target price is around $95.50, which is more than $10 a share above the 52-week high. Based on Monday’s closing price of $82.98, the implied gain here is 15%. The company pays a quarterly distribution of $0.29 for a yield of 1.4%.
The stock was touted by several analysts as top pick for 2014, and it has been a momentum trader’s dream stock. These results may cool that enthusiasm somewhat.
American Tower’s CEO said:
In 2013, our global sales and operations teams delivered record levels of new leasing business. Collocations, amendments and annual escalators, net of churn, drove Organic Core Growth of 8.7% domestically and 13.5% in our international markets. In addition, we added over 10,000 towers to our portfolio via acquisitions, predominantly in our three largest markets, the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. … Moreover, we completed the construction of over 2,000 towers in 2013, ending the year with a total of over 67,000 sites. Taken together, our strong organic growth and successful portfolio expansion initiatives made for a great start to achieving our aspirational goal of doubling our 2012 AFFO [Adjusted Funds From Operations] per Share by 2017.
Shares were down about 0.6% in premarket trading, at $82.47 in a 52-week range of $67.89 to $85.26.
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