For 1Q, Uniti’s loss hits $870,000

Real estate trust misses projection

Uniti Group lost $870,000 in the first quarter this year, the Little Rock real estate investment trust said Thursday.

That compares with a loss of $21.8 million in the first quarter last year.

Uniti lost a penny per share, missing the average projection of a 1-cent profit per share which was anticipated by 10 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Shares of Uniti, a spinoff from Windstream in 2015, rose 34 cents to close Thursday at $19.56 in trading on the Nasdaq exchange. Uniti released its earnings after the market closed.

Uniti reported revenue of almost $247 million in the first quarter, up from $211.5 million in the first quarter last year.

The acquisition of a fiber-optic portfolio from CenturyLink, and the previously reported sale-leaseback and fiber acquisition from U.S. TelePacific Holdings Corp. demonstrate momentum for Uniti Leasing, Ken Gunderman, Uniti’s chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

Uniti Leasing is one of the three major divisions of Uniti Group, including Uniti Fiber and Uniti Towers.

Uniti continues to grow its portfolio of fiber-optic lines leased to anchor customers with attractive lease-up potential, Gunderman said.

“We expect Uniti Leasing will be an important contributor to our future growth,” Gunderman said.

Uniti Group expects there will be a multiyear investment cycle as 5G

systems are built around the country, Gunderman said. 5G is the fifth generation of small-cell wireless technology that is designed to create much faster data speeds.

“Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber and Uniti Towers will be significant beneficiaries of these industry dynamics,” Gunderman said.

On May 1, Uniti closed on its first portion of the TelePacific acquisition. Uniti acquired 6,000 fiber strand miles in Nevada, Texas and Massachusetts, which will be leased back to TelePacific. Additionally, Uniti acquired and will have exclusive use of 7,000 fiber strand miles in Texas from the purchase.

On May 10, Uniti acquired from CenturyLink 30 long distance intercity dark fiber (unused fiber-optic lines) routes totaling 11,000 route miles and 270,000 fiber-strand miles across 25 states.

It anticipates closing other leases in the future, including more potentially later this year, Uniti said.