Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNI):
Fourth Quarter 2009 Financial Highlights:
* Total revenue increases 7% to $59.5 million.
* Wireless revenue increases 20% to $35.9 million.
* Net income, excluding acquisition-related charges, was $8.0 million or $0.52 per diluted share, up 11% from 2008.
Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNI) reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.
Fourth Quarter Financial Results
For the three months ended December 31, 2009, revenue was $59.5 million, 7% above the $55.4 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2008. The revenue increase was driven by a significant increase in the Company’s wireless revenue. The Company’s U.S. domestic wireless business grew 35% year-over-year, more than offsetting the year-over-year decrease in international long distance revenue from the Company’s Guyana operations.
Operating income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $11.7 million as compared to $15.5 million in 2008. Operating income was negatively affected by $4.7 million of expenses incurred during the fourth quarter relating to the Company’s pending $200 million acquisition of certain Alltel wireless assets. Operating income excluding these costs was $16.3 million. Net income attributable to ATN’s stockholders was $5.2 million compared to $6.6 million for the same period in 2008. Earnings per diluted share were $0.33 per share, compared to the $0.43 reported for last year’s fourth quarter. Excluding acquisition related charges in both years, net income was $8.0 million or $0.52 per diluted share, compared to $7.2 million or $0.47 per share in 2008.
Update on Acquisition of Alltel Assets
* On January 25, 2010, the Company announced that the most current information indicated that the Alltel assets had a subscriber base of over 800,000 post-paid and pre-paid subscribers. Further, the Company stated that annualized service revenues from the acquired assets were expected to range from $450 million to $500 million in the first twelve months following the anticipated close of the transaction. EBITDA margins are projected to be below industry standards during that period due to front-loaded transition and operating expenses but are expected to progressively increase in the period and to reach more normalized levels of between 20% and 30% some time in 2011.
Fourth Quarter 2009 Operating Highlights
The following operating results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 are compared against the same period in 2008 unless otherwise indicated.
Wireless Revenue
Wireless revenue increased 20%, to $35.9 million from $30.0 million. Our U.S. rural wireless business increased revenue by 35%, to $25.4 million from $18.8 million, benefiting from our ongoing investment in new base stations and the growth in recurring voice and data traffic. As expected, seasonality factors caused fourth quarter 2009 U.S. rural wireless revenues to be below those of our third quarter 2009. We ended the fourth quarter with a total of 580 base stations in our U.S. network, up from 473 base stations at the end of last year’s fourth quarter and 564 base stations at the end of the 2009 third quarter. Wireless revenue in Guyana increased 16% to $5.9 million. At the end of the fourth quarter, we had approximately 289,000 subscribers in Guyana, up from the 248,000 at the end of last year’s fourth quarter, and up from 277,000 as of the end of the third quarter of 2009.
Local Telephone and Data Revenue
Local telephone and data revenue increased 11% to $14.8 million compared to $13.3 million in 2008. Local telephone and data revenue generated by our Guyana operations increased 8% to $8.2 million compared to $7.6 million in 2008, while access lines increased 6% to 147,000 from 139,000. Sovernet’s local telephone and data revenue increased 4%, to $4.8 million from $4.6 million in fourth quarter of 2008, due mainly to revenue growth at its fiber transport subsidiary, ION. Data revenue at our U.S. Virgin Islands operations also increased as compared to the prior year.
International Long Distance Revenue
International long distance revenue, all of which is generated by our Guyana operations, declined 21% to $8.8 million from $11.1 million in 2008. We believe this decrease is a result of continued and considerable illegal bypass activities in the quarter resulting in lost revenue opportunities, and, to a lesser extent, an overall reduction in call volume into Guyana attributable to the current difficult global economic environment.
Full Year 2009 Results
* Total revenue increased 17% to $241.7 million from $ 207.3 million in 2008
* Wireless revenue increased 40% to $147.0 million from $105.0 million
* Operating Income was $69.7 million compared to $69.5 million. Excluding acquisition-related charges in both years, operating income was $76.9 million, up 9% from $70.6 million in 2008.
* Net income was $35.5 million, or $2.32 per diluted share, compared to $34.8 million or $2.28 per diluted share. Excluding acquisition-related charges in both years, net income was $39.8 million, up 12% from $35.4 million in 2008.
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