Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Uniti reports loss of $47.7M
Despite weak quarter, CEO cites strong position this year
Uniti Group Inc. ended 2020 with a $47.7 million net loss in the fourth quarter as earnings per share dipped to a loss of 20 cents, the company announced Monday.
The company said the results were preliminary and final earnings will be released next week.
Revenue for the fourth quarter was $275.3 million, up from $268.5 million in the same period of 2019, when Uniti reported an $11.4 million loss and an earnings-pershare loss of 6 cents.
For the full year, the fiber provider reported total revenue of $1 billion, essentially the same as in 2019. It reported an income loss of $718.8 million, compared with net income of $10.9 million in 2019. Earnings per share for 2020 came in at a loss of $3.47, compared with 4 cents per share the previous year.
“We are working to fully complete our financial results and our 10-K [annual report] filing, and our independent auditors are working to complete their audit work,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Wallace told analysts on a call Monday. “We believe both will be completed shortly and expect to file our 10-K no later than March 8.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires all publicly traded companies to file the report each year to give a comprehensive view of their financial statements.
President and Chief Executive Officer Kenny Gunderman said Uniti is in a strong
position to perform well this year.
“Our fiber and leasing businesses performed exceptionally well last year and are well positioned going into 2021,” Gunderman said in a news release. “Strong bookings and install activity at Uniti fiber reflect the robust demand we continue to see for our wireless offerings, driven by network densification efforts and the broader rollout of 5G services within our markets.”
A year ago, Uniti and Windstream Holdings Inc. settled a leasing dispute after slogging through seven months of litigation. The fight centered on a $650 million annual rent agreement that Windstream pays to use Uniti’s fiber-optic network in 13 states.
Under the settlement, Windstream will continue the long-term lease while gaining an investment of up to $1.75 billion over 10 years from Uniti. The agreement also says Uniti will pay Windstream about $490 million in cash and purchase fiber assets from Windstream for another $285 million.
The settlement “revalidated and strengthened our lease agreement” with Windstream, Gunderman told the analysts Monday.
Uniti remains interested in pursuing growth through merger-and-acquisition activity, he said, adding that the company is looking at a range of potential deals from buying additional fiber to “larger transformative deals.”
“There’s a tremendous amount of interest in partnering with Uniti in a variety of creative ways,” Gunderman said on the conference call.
The company also recently refinanced its line of credit and refinanced its debt at a lower cost. “We continue to work to improve our financial flexibility and lower our borrowing costs,” Wallace said.
Last week, Uniti declared a quarterly cash dividend of 15 cents per share, payable April 16 to stockholders of record on April 1.
The earnings were released after the stock market had closed Monday. Uniti shares rose 10 cents to close at $12.01.