Houston-based Crown Castle named two new members to its board Wednesday, part of the cell-tower operator’s plan to refresh its roster of directors after criticism from an activist investment firm.
Both of the new board members, who are real estate industry executives, are Black.
Crown Castle also reported third quarter a profit of $163 million, down from restated earnings of $214 million in the same period last year. Revenues were $1.486 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up slightly over $1.482 billion in the year-earlier period.
The company attributed the decline in profits to the retirement of $2.4 billion of senior unsecured notes in July that resulted in a $95 million hit to net profits.
FIBER: Crown Castle approached for stake in its fiber business
Crown Castle also announced an increase in its annualized common stock dividend by 11 percent to $5.32 per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street estimates on profits, but came in below estimates for revenue.
The company adjusted its financial outlook for 2020 profits to $819 million from $943 million, and for site rental revenues, to $5.32 billion from $5.36 billion. Some tower activity expected in the final quarter of the year had shifted to the first quarter of 2021, and there were fewer lease extensions.
Crown Castle has been under pressure from activist investment firm Elliott Management, which has criticized the way the company is managing its fiber optic business. Fiber optic cables supply data to the transmitters on its towers, and Crown Castle has said it expects growth in both parts of its business.
Elliott urged Crown Castle to consider bringing in new managers to run its fiber business, and if necessary sell a portion of it. In August, Reuters reported that Digital Colony, which invests in telecommunications businesses, had approached Crown Castle about buying a stake in its fiber operation.
The company is involved in the buildout of next-generation 5G wireless networks, and has argued it is able to offer a complete package of towers and fiber connections to the telecommunications companies that are its customers.
“We believe our ability to offer towers, small cells and fiber solutions, which are all integral components of communications networks and are shared among multiple tenants, provides us the best opportunity to generate significant growth while delivering high returns for our shareholders,” Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown said in a statement.
Release Notes: Get Dwight Silverman’s weekly tech newsletter in your inbox each Monday
Elliott also has taken the company to task for the age and makeup of its board. In response, Crown Castle earlier this year announced mandatory retirement policies for members and began rotating long-serving members off the board.
The new board members are Tammy K. Jones, co-founder and chief executive of Basis Investment Group, a New York City-based commercial real estate investment manager; and Matthew Thornton III, an executive vice president and chief operating officer at FedEx Freight.
Ari Q. Fitzgerald, chairman of Crown Castle’s nominating and corporate governance committee, said the company is working on adding a third director who has experience in the fiber-optic business.
The company adjusted its financial outlook for 2020 profits from $943 million to $819 million, and for site rental revenues, from $5.36 billion to $5.317 billion. Some tower activity expected in the final quarter of the year had shifted to the first quarter of 2021, and there were fewer lease extensions.
dwight.silverman@chron.com
twitter.com/dsilverman
houstonchronicle.com/techburger
"board" - Google News
October 22, 2020 at 04:00PM
https://ift.tt/3dUAyrh
Crown Castle adds new board members, reports lower Q3 profits - Houston Chronicle
"board" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KWL1EQ
https://ift.tt/2YrjQdq
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Crown Castle adds new board members, reports lower Q3 profits - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment