BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SBA Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: SBAC) ("SBA" or the "Company") today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Highlights of the first quarter include:

• Subsequent to quarter end, declared quarterly cash dividend of $0.465 per share
• Repurchased 0.8 million shares at an average price per share of $243
• Committed to provide global COVID-19 relief through charitable contributions in each of our existing markets
• Net loss of $127.1 million, resulting from $152.8 million non-cash, currency-related inter-company loan remeasurement adjustment
• AFFO per share growth of 13.5% over the year earlier period on a constant currency basis

“We had a solid start to 2020,” commented Jeffrey A. Stoops. “In these extremely difficult times brought about by COVID-19, we are very fortunate to serve in an industry that is essential to the geographies in which we operate, where we are able to keep our team members fully employed working for our customers and communities. Our top priorities during this crisis are the health and safety of our team members, and maintaining and expanding wireless service for our customers. 5G and the benefits it will bring are now more important than ever. With the T-Mobile-Sprint merger now complete, our expectations for the full year remain the same. We expect to see in the US increasing levels of operational activity as we move through the year, with the reported financial results to follow. Early stages of this increased operational activity are now underway. Internationally, demand remains solid as well, although, as evidenced by our revised full-year outlook, the only material impact to SBA from the COVID-19 crisis is the expected impact in certain of our international markets from foreign currency adjustments.

“Our operational performance, as best evidenced by our margins, continues to be excellent, and I commend all of our team members. Our balance sheet and access to capital remains very strong. We are comfortable at current leverage levels, with future capital allocation priorities first to our dividend and then the substantial remaining amount of investable capital to opportunistic portfolio growth and stock repurchases. During these challenging times, we expect to stay very busy serving our customers and communities, helping to continuously improve wireless service in general and deploy 5G service in particular, while we execute well against increasing operational demand and grow AFFO per share materially.”

Operating Results

The table below details select financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and comparisons to the prior year period.

Total revenues in the first quarter of 2020 were $517.0 million compared to $493.3 million in the year earlier period, an increase of 4.8%. Site leasing revenue in the quarter of $492.3 million was comprised of domestic site leasing revenue of $386.3 million and international site leasing revenue of $106.0 million. Domestic cash site leasing revenue was $383.9 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to $361.2 million in the year earlier period, an increase of 6.3%. International cash site leasing revenue was $106.1 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to $88.3 million in the year earlier period, an increase of 20.1%, or 33.7% excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Site leasing operating profit was $396.6 million, an increase of 10.3% over the year earlier period. Site leasing contributed 98.8% of the Company’s total operating profit in the first quarter of 2020. Domestic site leasing segment operating profit was $322.4 million, an increase of 8.3% over the year earlier period. International site leasing segment operating profit was $74.1 million, an increase of 20.0% over the year earlier period.

Tower Cash Flow for the first quarter of 2020 of $398.1 million was comprised of Domestic Tower Cash Flow of $323.4 million and International Tower Cash Flow of $74.7 million. Domestic Tower Cash Flow for the quarter increased 7.2% over the prior year period and International Tower Cash Flow increased 22.2% over the prior year period, or 35.4% on a constant currency basis. Tower Cash Flow Margin was 81.2% for the first quarter of 2020, as compared to 80.7% for the year earlier period.

Net loss for the first quarter of 2020 was $127.1 million, or $(1.14) per share, and included a $152.8 million loss, net of taxes, on the currency related remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries. Net income for the first quarter of 2019 was $26.0 million, or $0.23 per share, and included a $1.4 million loss, net of taxes, on the currency related remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with a Brazilian subsidiary.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $369.9 million, a 7.1% increase over the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA Margin was 71.9% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 70.4% in the first quarter of 2019.

Net Cash Interest Expense was $95.0 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared to $96.9 million in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 2.0%.

AFFO for the quarter was $259.9 million, a 10.0% increase over the prior year period. AFFO per share for the first quarter of 2020 was $2.28, a 10.1% increase over the prior year period, and 13.5% on a constant currency basis.

Investing Activities

During the first quarter of 2020, SBA acquired 69 communication sites for total cash consideration of $79.9 million. SBA also built 49 towers during the first quarter of 2020. As of March 31, 2020, SBA owned or operated 32,515 communication sites, 16,463 of which are located in the United States and its territories, and 16,052 of which are located internationally. In addition, the Company spent $6.9 million to purchase land and easements and to extend lease terms. Total cash capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2020 were $128.8 million, consisting of $9.2 million of non-discretionary cash capital expenditures (tower maintenance and general corporate) and $119.6 million of discretionary cash capital expenditures (new tower builds, tower augmentations, acquisitions, and purchasing land and easements).

Subsequent to the first quarter of 2020, the Company has purchased or agreed to purchase 137 additional communication sites for an aggregate amount of $52.0 million. The Company anticipates that the majority of these acquisitions will be consummated by the end of the third quarter of 2020.

Financing Activities and Liquidity

SBA ended the first quarter of 2020 with $10.7 billion of total debt, $7.8 billion of total secured debt, $228.0 million of cash and cash equivalents, short-term restricted cash, and short-term investments, and $10.4 billion of Net Debt. SBA’s Net Debt and Net Secured Debt to Annualized Adjusted EBITDA Leverage Ratios were 7.0x and 5.1x, respectively.

On February 4, 2020, the Company issued $1.0 billion of unsecured senior notes due February 15, 2027 (the “2020 Senior Notes”). The 2020 Senior Notes accrue interest at a rate of 3.875% per annum. Interest on the 2020 Senior Notes is due semi-annually on February 15 and August 15 of each year, beginning on August 15, 2020. Net proceeds from this offering were used to redeem all of the outstanding principal amount of the 4.875% Senior Notes due 2022 and repay a portion of the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility.

As of the date of this press release, the Company had $380.0 million outstanding under the $1.25 billion Revolving Credit Facility.

During the first quarter of 2020, the Company repurchased 0.8 million shares of its Class A common stock for $200.0 million, at an average price per share of $242.86 under its $1.0 billion stock repurchase plan. All shares repurchased were retired. As of the date of this filing, the Company has $424.3 million of authorization remaining under the plan.

In the first quarter of 2020, the Company declared and paid a cash dividend of $52.2 million.

In addition, the Company announced today, May 5, 2020, that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.465 per share of the Company’s Class A common stock. The distribution is payable June 18, 2020 to the shareholders of record at the close of business on May 28, 2020.

Outlook

The Company is updating its full year 2020 Outlook for anticipated results. The Outlook provided is based on a number of assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable at the time of this press release. Information regarding potential risks that could cause the actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements is set forth below and in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company’s full year 2020 Outlook assumes the acquisitions of only those communication sites under contract and anticipated to close at the time of this press release. The Company may spend additional capital in 2020 on acquiring revenue producing assets not yet identified or under contract, the impact of which is not reflected in the 2020 guidance. The Outlook also does not contemplate any additional repurchases of the Company’s stock during 2020, although the Company may ultimately spend capital to repurchase some of its stock during the year.

The Company’s Outlook assumes an average foreign currency exchange rate of 5.45 Brazilian Reais to 1.0 U.S. Dollar, 1.42 Canadian Dollars to 1.0 U.S. Dollar, and 18.65 South African Rand to 1.0 U.S. Dollar throughout the last three quarters of 2020. When compared to the Company’s initial full year 2020 Outlook provided February 20, 2020, the variances in the actual first quarter foreign currency exchange rates versus the Company’s assumptions, and the changes in the Company’s foreign currency rate assumptions for the remainder of the year, negatively impacted the 2020 full year Outlook by the amounts indicated in the chart below.

Conference Call Information

SBA Communications Corporation will host a conference call on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at 5:00 PM (EDT) to discuss the quarterly results. The call may be accessed as follows:

Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and our earnings call include forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company’s expectations or beliefs regarding (i) the increase in operational activity and demand for the Company’s infrastructure, and the timing, magnitude and drivers of that increase, (ii) the impact of the completed T-Mobile/Sprint transaction, the expected growth in incremental leasing activity and services business and the drivers of that growth, (iii) the impact of carrier equipment upgrades and network investment, 5G deployment and spectrum auctions in 2020, (iv) the Company’s leverage levels and future capital allocation strategy, (v) the Company’s financial and operational performance in 2020, including growth in AFFO per share, (vi) the Company’s revised financial and operational guidance for the full year 2020, the assumptions it made and the drivers contributing to its full year guidance and the changes thereto, (vii) the timing of closing for currently pending acquisitions, and (viii) foreign exchange rates and their impact on the Company’s financial and operational guidance, including the volatility in foreign currency exchange rates caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Company wishes to caution readers that these forward-looking statements may be affected by the risks and uncertainties in the Company’s business as well as other important factors may have affected and could in the future affect the Company’s actual results and could cause the Company’s actual results for subsequent periods to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of the Company. With respect to the Company’s expectations regarding all of these statements, including its financial and operational guidance, such risk factors include, but are not limited to: (1) the ability and willingness of wireless service providers to maintain or increase their capital expenditures; (2) the Company’s ability to identify and acquire sites at prices and upon terms that will provide accretive portfolio growth; (3) the Company’s ability to accurately identify and manage any risks associated with its acquired sites, to effectively integrate such sites into its business and to achieve the anticipated financial results; (4) the Company’s ability to secure and retain as many site leasing tenants as planned at anticipated lease rates; (5) the impact of continued consolidation among wireless service providers, including the impact of the completed T-Mobile and Sprint merger, on the Company’s leasing revenue; (6) the Company’s ability to successfully manage the risks associated with international operations, including risks associated with foreign currency exchange rates; (7) the Company’s ability to secure and deliver anticipated services business at contemplated margins; (8) the Company’s ability to maintain expenses and cash capital expenditures at appropriate levels for its business while seeking to attain its investment goals; (9) the Company’s ability to acquire land underneath towers on terms that are accretive; (10) the economic climate for the wireless communications industry in general and the wireless communications infrastructure providers in particular in the United States, Brazil, South Africa and in other international markets; (11) the ability of Dish to become and compete as a nationwide carrier; (12) the Company’s ability to obtain future financing at commercially reasonable rates or at all; (13) the ability of the Company to achieve its long-term stock repurchases strategy, which will depend, among other things, on the trading price of the Company’s common stock, which may be positively or negatively impacted by the repurchase program, market and business conditions; (14) the Company’s ability to achieve the new builds targets included in its anticipated annual portfolio growth goals, which will depend, among other things, on obtaining zoning and regulatory approvals, weather, availability of labor and supplies and other factors beyond the Company’s control that could affect the Company’s ability to build additional towers in 2020; and (15) the extent and duration of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the global economy, on the Company’s business and results of operations, and on foreign currency exchange rates; and (16) the Company’s ability to meet its total portfolio growth, which will depend, in addition to the new build risks, on the availability of sufficient towers for sale to meet our targets, competition from third parties for such acquisitions and our ability to negotiate the terms of, and acquire, these potential tower portfolios on terms that meet our internal return criteria. With respect to its expectations regarding the ability to close pending acquisitions, these factors also include satisfactorily completing due diligence, the amount and quality of due diligence that the Company is able to complete prior to closing of any acquisition and its ability to accurately anticipate the future performance of the acquired towers, the ability to receive required regulatory approval, the ability and willingness of each party to fulfill their respective closing conditions and their contractual obligations and the availability of cash on hand or borrowing capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility to fund the consideration. With respect to the repurchases under the Company’s stock repurchase program, the amount of shares repurchased, if any, and the timing of such repurchases will depend on, among other things, the trading price of the Company’s common stock, which may be positively or negatively impacted by the repurchase program, market and business conditions, the availability of stock, the Company’s financial performance or determinations following the date of this announcement in order to use the Company’s funds for other purposes. Furthermore, the Company’s forward-looking statements and its 2020 outlook assumes that the Company continues to qualify for treatment as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and that the Company’s business is currently operated in a manner that complies with the REIT rules and that it will be able to continue to comply with and conduct its business in accordance with such rules. In addition, these forward-looking statements and the information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by cautionary statements and risk factor disclosures contained in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Commission on February 24, 2020.

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation of each of these non-GAAP financial measures and the other Regulation G information is presented below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

This press release will be available on our website at www.sbasite.com.

About SBA Communications Corporation

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 30,000 communications sites in fourteen markets throughout the Americas and South Africa, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC. Our organization is part of the S&P 500 and is one of the top 20 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) based on market capitalization. For more information, please visit: www.sbasite.com.

Segment Operating Profit and Segment Operating Profit Margin

Domestic site leasing and International site leasing are the two segments within our site leasing business. Segment operating profit is a key business metric and one of our two measures of segment profitability. The calculation of Segment operating profit for each of our segments is set forth below.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The press release contains non-GAAP financial measures including (i) Cash Site Leasing Revenue; (ii) Tower Cash Flow and Tower Cash Flow Margin; (iii) Adjusted EBITDA, Annualized Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin; (iv) Net Debt, Net Secured Debt, Leverage Ratio, and Secured Leverage Ratio (collectively, our “Non-GAAP Debt Measures”); (v) Funds from Operations (“FFO”), Adjusted Funds from Operations (“AFFO”), and AFFO per share; and (vi) certain financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates (collectively, our “Constant Currency Measures”).

We have included these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that they provide investors additional tools in understanding our financial performance and condition.

Specifically, we believe that:

(1) Cash Site Leasing Revenue and Tower Cash Flow are useful indicators of the performance of our site leasing operations;

(2) Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors or other interested parties in evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by management (1) to evaluate the economic productivity of our operations and (2) for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to, and assessing the performance of, our operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA helps investors or other interested parties meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations (1) from period to period and (2) to our competitors, by excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization and accretion) from our financial results. Management also believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used in our debt covenant calculations. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance;

(3) FFO, AFFO and AFFO per share, which are metrics used by our public company peers in the communication site industry, provide investors useful indicators of the financial performance of our business and permit investors an additional tool to evaluate the performance of our business against those of our two principal competitors. FFO, AFFO, and AFFO per share are also used to address questions we receive from analysts and investors who routinely assess our operating performance on the basis of these performance measures, which are considered industry standards. We believe that FFO helps investors or other interested parties meaningfully evaluate financial performance by excluding the impact of our asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization and accretion and asset impairment and decommission costs). We believe that AFFO and AFFO per share help investors or other interested parties meaningfully evaluate our financial performance as they include (1) the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest expense on our outstanding debt) and (2) sustaining capital expenditures and exclude the impact of (1) our asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization and accretion and asset impairment and decommission costs) and (2) certain non-cash items, including straight-lined revenues and expenses related to fixed escalations and rent free periods and the non-cash portion of our reported tax provision. GAAP requires rental revenues and expenses related to leases that contain specified rental increases over the life of the lease to be recognized evenly over the life of the lease. In accordance with GAAP, if payment terms call for fixed escalations, or rent free periods, the revenue or expense is recognized on a straight-lined basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the contract. We only use AFFO as a performance measure. AFFO should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance and should not be considered as an alternative to cash flows from operations or as residual cash flow available for discretionary investment. We believe our definition of FFO is consistent with how that term is defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) and that our definition and use of AFFO and AFFO per share is consistent with those reported by the other communication site companies;

(4) Our Non-GAAP Debt Measures provide investors a more complete understanding of our net debt and leverage position as they include the full principal amount of our debt which will be due at maturity and, to the extent that such measures are calculated on Net Debt are net of our cash and cash equivalents, short-term restricted cash, and short-term investments; and

(5) Our Constant Currency Measures provide management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of the business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

In addition, Tower Cash Flow, Adjusted EBITDA, and our Non-GAAP Debt Measures are components of the calculations used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and indentures relating to our 2016 Senior Notes, 2017 Senior Notes, and 2020 Senior Notes. These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be an alternative to any of the financial measures provided in our results of operations or our balance sheet as determined in accordance with GAAP.

Financial Metrics after Eliminating the Impact of Changes In Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates for each of the financial metrics listed in the table below by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, and by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans. The table below provides the reconciliation of the reported growth rate year-over-year of each of such measures to the growth rate after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates to such measure.

Cash Site Leasing Revenue, Tower Cash Flow, and Tower Cash Flow Margin

The table below sets forth the reconciliation of Cash Site Leasing Revenue and Tower Cash Flow to their most comparable GAAP measurement and Tower Cash Flow Margin, which is calculated by dividing Tower Cash Flow by Cash Site Leasing Revenue.

Forecasted Tower Cash Flow for Full Year 2020

The table below sets forth the reconciliation of forecasted Tower Cash Flow set forth in the Outlook section to its most comparable GAAP measurement for the full year 2020:

Adjusted EBITDA, Annualized Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

The table below sets forth the reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most comparable GAAP measurement.

The calculation of Adjusted EBITDA Margin is as follows:

Forecasted Adjusted EBITDA for Full Year 2020

The table below sets forth the reconciliation of the forecasted Adjusted EBITDA set forth in the Outlook section to its most comparable GAAP measurement for the full year 2020:

Funds from Operations (“FFO”) and Adjusted Funds from Operations (“AFFO”)

The table below sets forth the reconciliations of FFO and AFFO to their most comparable GAAP measurement.

Forecasted AFFO for the Full Year 2020

The table below sets forth the reconciliation of the forecasted AFFO and AFFO per share set forth in the Outlook section to its most comparable GAAP measurement for the full year 2020:

Net Debt, Net Secured Debt, Leverage Ratio, and Secured Leverage Ratio

Net Debt is calculated using the notional principal amount of outstanding debt. Under GAAP policies, the notional principal amount of the Company's outstanding debt is not necessarily reflected on the face of the Company's financial statements.

The Net Debt and Leverage calculations are as follows:

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200505005999/en/

Mark DeRussy, CFA Capital Markets 561-226-9531

Lynne Hopkins Media Relations 561-226-9431

Source: SBA Communications Corporation