SBA Communications Profit Misses Estimates, Revenue Beats; Cuts FY Guidance

(RTTNews) - SBA Communications Corp (SBAC), an operator of wireless communications tower structures, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $0.4 million or $0.00 per share compared with a loss of $19.2 million or $0.15 per share last year.

Revenues for the quarter were $404 million compared with $335.4 million in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.02 per share on revenues of $394.9 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating expenses for the quarter were $308 million compared with $276 million last year. Further, other costs, including interest expense, rose to $92 million from $81 million, hurting profits, the company said.

For the first quarter, the company expects revenues of $403 million to $413 million, while analysts expect $404.9 million.

For the full year 2015, the company now expects revenues of $1.63 billion to $1.67 billion, down from prior guidance of $1.64 billion to $1.69 billion.

"Customer activity and our backlogs remain strong as we move into 2015... We believe the combination of strong organic growth, sound execution and investment will once again drive material growth in 2015," the company said.