Uniti Group Q3 2019 Results Favorable

November 12, 2019

During its third quarter 2019 earnings call, Uniti Group reported favorable demand across its business units, which include Uniti Fiber, Uniti Towers and Uniti Leasing.

Uniti Towers contributed $3.3 million of revenues and reported near break-even Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. Uniti Towers’ total capital expenditures for the third quarter were $20.9 million and included the completed construction of 55 towers.
Uniti Fiber contributed $78 million of revenues and $30.5 million of Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2019, achieving Adjusted EBITDA margins of approximately 39%. Uniti Fiber’s net success-based capital expenditures during the quarter were $39.4 million, and maintenance capital expenditures were $1.5 million. At September 30, 2019, Uniti Fiber had approximately $1.2 billion of revenues under contract.
Uniti Leasing had revenues of $179.6 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $178.1 million for the third quarter.

Macrotower, Small Cell Backhaul Contract

Uniti Fiber recently signed a contract with a major wireless customer to deploy 800 combined macro backhaul and small cell sites across its Southeast fiber footprint, adding $500,000 of monthly recurring revenue once all sites are delivered over the next three years.

“This agreement demonstrates the continued need for wireless carriers to densify their networks as they move towards a broader rollout of 5G wireless services,” commented Kenny Gunderman, Uniti president and CEO.

Investment Transactions

During the quarter, the Company closed on its sale-leaseback and fiber acquisition with Bluebird Network, through an OpCo/PropCo partnership with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. Uniti acquired approximately 178,000 fiber strand miles in the Midwest across Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. In addition, the Company completed the sale of its Uniti Fiber Midwest operations to MIP, while Uniti retained the ownership of its existing Midwest fiber network. The Company is leasing the Bluebird fiber network and its Midwest fiber network, on a combined basis, to MIP under a long-term triple net lease, and is included within the results of Uniti Leasing. The results of our Midwest operations have been excluded from the results of Uniti Fiber, subsequent to closing on August 30, 2019.