Exhibit 99.1
[SBA LOGO]
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION REPORTS
RECORD 2nd QUARTER RESULTS
SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION (NASDAQ: SBAC); BOCA RATON, FLORIDA,
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2001
SBA Communications Corporation ("SBA" or the "Company") announced significant
increases in total revenues, EBITDA and tower cash flow for the three months
ended June 30, 2001, over the same period in 2000. The total revenues, EBITDA
and tower cash flow amounts for the three months ended June 30, 2001 were all
quarterly highs in the Company's history. SBA also announced changes in its new
tower build guidance for 2001 and 2002 and an anticipated third quarter 2001
non-recurring developmental charge resulting from the adjustment to the scale of
its new tower build operation.
For the three months ended June 30, 2001, total revenues increased 50.0% to
$57.8 million from the second quarter of 2000, due to both higher site leasing
revenue and site development revenue. Site leasing revenue increased to $24.9
million for the quarter, a 110.9% increase over the comparable quarter of 2000.
Gross profit for the quarter increased 74.9% to $23.4 million from the second
quarter of 2000, due to both higher site leasing and site development gross
profit. Site leasing gross profit, or tower cash flow, increased to $15.8
million for the quarter, a 115.0% increase over the second quarter of 2000.
EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, non-cash
compensation charges, for the quarter was $13.6 million, a 92.2% increase over
the second quarter of 2000.
SBA also announced that, in light of its assessment of capital market
conditions, acquisition opportunities and its success in growing its tower
portfolio year-to-date, it was adjusting its new tower build construction plan
and operation to produce 100 to 150 new towers per quarter commencing with the
third quarter of 2001, instead of the 200 to 250 new towers per quarter
previously built or capable of being built by the Company. The Company now
expects to build a total of approximately 600 to 700 new towers in 2001 and
approximately 400 to 600 in 2002. The adjustment is not expected to impact SBA's
anticipated portfolio at year-end 2001 of 3,800 to 4,000 towers. In connection
with the adjustment to the scale of its new tower construction operation, SBA
announced that it expects to incur a non-recurring developmental charge in the
third quarter of 2001, estimated to be between $21 and $24 million. Included in
the charge will be a write-off of costs reflected on the Company's balance sheet
as work in process for certain new tower build sites for which development
activity is expected to be abandoned, costs of employee separation for certain
employees and costs associated with the closing or consolidation of selected
offices, which employees and offices were utilized primarily in SBA's new asset
development activities.
Steven E. Bernstein, SBA's Chairman, stated, "We are very happy with the
operational performance of SBA, particularly in light of a very challenging
business environment. We enjoyed strong total revenues growth, and even stronger
site leasing revenue and EBITDA growth. Our EBITDA margin increased materially
over the year-earlier period and sequentially from last quarter. These results
show that we continue to be successful in the shift of our mix of business to
higher margin tower leasing and long-term recurring revenue. The tower ownership
side of our business is performing very well. We also continue to be pleased
with our performance in the services area, and we believe that the second half
of 2001 will be stronger for SBA in services revenue."
With respect to the adjustment to its new build operation, Jeffrey A. Stoops,
SBA's President, commented, "We continuously review our growth and capital
investment goals for additional towers and the types of tower investments we
believe will produce the best returns for our shareholders. There are currently
many opportunities in both new tower builds and acquisitions of existing towers
which we believe will produce attractive returns on investment over time. While
we will selectively pursue these opportunities and continue our growth, we will
also continue to be disciplined in our use of capital, mindful of current
capital market conditions and proactively cost-conscious with the infrastructure
necessary to meet our goals. For 2001, we intend to stay within our previously
stated cash capital investment plan of $400-$450 million for tower assets. We
have already funded approximately two-thirds of the plan and the remainder of
the plan is fully backlogged at this time with a mix of new tower builds and
acquisitions of existing towers. In 2002, our plan is to stay within our
existing capital resources as we make cash capital investments in additional
tower assets, which would again be expected to be a mix of new tower builds and
acquisitions of existing towers assuming that acquisitions continue to be as
attractive as they are today. We believe these levels and mix of investment will
allow us to meet or exceed our short term and long term business, financial and
tower portfolio goals. Given our first-half and expected continued success with
acquisitions, we no longer need to produce as many new tower builds to
accomplish our capital investment, portfolio or growth goals. Therefore, we have
concluded in the current market environment that it no longer makes sense for us
to continue to incur the costs necessary to carry an operation which was geared
to produce 200-250 new towers per quarter, and that the right scope of our new
tower build development activity going forward is an operation and
infrastructure geared to produce 100-150 new towers per quarter."
A conference call to discuss the company's Second Quarter 2001 earnings, Third
Quarter 2001 Outlook and Fiscal 2001 Outlook has been scheduled for Friday,
August 10, 2001 at 10:00 AM ET. The U.S. call-in number is (800) 553-0318, the
International call-in number is (612) 332-0820. The name of the conference call
is "SBA Second Quarter Earnings." The replay will be available from August 10,
2001 at 5:00 PM to August 24, 2001 at 11:59 PM. The replay number for the U.S.
is (800) 475-6701, and International replay number is (320) 365-3844. The access
code is 597380. You may also listen to this conference call via a webcast that
can be accessed via the Internet at: www.sbasite.com.
SBA is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications
infrastructure in the United States. SBA generates revenue from two primary
businesses - site leasing and site development services. The primary focus of
the Company is the leasing of antenna space on its multi-tenant towers to a
variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts. Since it
was founded in 1989, SBA has participated in the development of over 15,000
antenna sites in the United States.
For additional information, please contact Pamela J. Kline, Vice President,
Investor Relations, at: (561) 995-7670.
Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some information in this release is forward looking, including statements
regarding the implementation of our business plan, the movement of our revenue
stream to more of a recurring nature, expected returns from our capital
investments, trends in our services business, the expected number of new tower
builds and cash capital expenditures in 2001 and 2002. These forward-looking
statements may be affected by the risks and uncertainties in the Company's
business. This information is qualified in its entirety by cautionary statements
and risk factor disclosure contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings, including the Company's report on Form 10-K filed with the
Commission on April 2, 2001. The Company wishes to caution readers that certain
important factors may have affected and could in the future affect the Company's
actual results and could cause the Company's actual results for subsequent
periods to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking
statement made by or on behalf of the Company. Such factors include, but are not
limited to, (1) the business climate for the wireless communications industry in
general and the wireless communications infrastructure providers in particular;
(2) our ability and the ability of our customers to access sufficient capital to
fund expansion of networks and new tower builds and acquisitions; (3) our
ability to secure as many site leasing tenants as planned; (4) our ability to
expand our site leasing business and maintain or expand our site development
business; (5) our ability to continue and expand synergies between our site
leasing and site development businesses; (6) our ability to complete
construction of new towers on a timely and cost-efficient basis, including our
ability to successfully address zoning issues, carrier design changes, changing
local market conditions and the impact of adverse weather conditions; (7) our
ability to identify and acquire new towers, including our capability to timely
complete due diligence and obtain third party consents; (8) our ability to
retain current lessees on newly acquired towers; (9) our ability to realize
economies of scale for newly acquired towers; (10) the continued dependence on
towers and outsourced site development services by the wireless communications
industry; (11) our ability to compete effectively for new tower opportunities
and site development services in light of increased competition; (12) our
ability to raise substantial additional financing to expand our tower holdings.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
SUMMARY HISTORICAL FINANCIAL DATA
(in thousands, except per share)
For the three months ended June 30, For the six months ended June 30,
2001 2000 2001 2000
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Revenue:
Site development $ 32,840 $ 26,692 $ 65,513 $ 47,034
Site leasing 24,915 11,811 45,198 21,898
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Total revenues 57,755 38,503 110,711 68,932
Cost of revenues:
Cost of site development 25,214 20,650 50,232 36,219
Cost of site leasing 9,110 4,459 16,238 8,324
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Total cost of revenues 34,324 25,109 66,470 44,543
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Gross profit 23,431 13,394 44,241 24,389
Selling, general and administrative 10,759 6,338 21,400 12,456
Depreciation and amortization 18,368 7,932 33,375 14,763
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Total operating expenses 29,127 14,270 54,775 27,219
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Operating loss (5,696) (876) (10,534) (2,830)
Net interest and other expense (17,147) (6,679) (29,882) (14,224)
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Loss before provision for income taxes
and extraordinary item (22,843) (7,555) (40,416) (17,054)
Provision for income taxes (478) (353) (832) (577)
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Net loss before extraordinary item,
write-off of deferred financing fees (23,321) (7,908) (41,248) (17,631)
Extraordinary item, write-off of deferred
financing fees - - (5,069) -
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Net loss to common shareholders $ (23,321) $ (7,908) $ (46,317) $ (17,631)
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Basic and diluted loss per common share
before extraordinary item $ (0.50) $ (0.20) $ (0.88) $ (0.47)
Extraordinary item, write-off of deferred
financing fees - - (0.11) -
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Basic and diluted loss per common share $ (0.50) $ (0.20) $ (0.99) $ (0.47)
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Weighted average number of shares 47,105 39,234 46,954 37,308
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Other Data:
Earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization, non-cash
compensation expense and extraordinary items $ 13,563 $ 7,056 $ 24,520 $ 12,136
Annualized tower cash flow $ 63,220 $ 29,408 - -
As of As of
June 30, December 31,
2001 2000
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Balance Sheet Data:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 150,875 $ 14,980
Total assets $1,414,182 $ 948,818
Working capital $ 122,607 $ (27,474)
Total debt $ 772,681 $ 284,273