SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORP (SBAC)
SIC breadcrumb: Finance, Insurance, And Real Estate > Holding And Other Investment Offices > SIC 6798 Real Estate Investment Trusts
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1034054. Latest filing source: 0001034054-26-000002.
Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2,815,139,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
| Net income | 1,053,632,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
| Assets | 11,575,012,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-27. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001034054.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1,633,125,000 | 1,727,674,000 | 1,865,695,000 | 2,014,645,000 | 2,083,138,000 | 2,308,834,000 | 2,633,454,000 | 2,711,584,000 | 2,679,634,000 | 2,815,139,000 |
| Net income | 76,238,000 | 103,654,000 | 47,451,000 | 146,991,000 | 24,104,000 | 237,624,000 | 461,429,000 | 501,812,000 | 749,536,000 | 1,053,632,000 |
| Operating income | 387,308,000 | 458,501,000 | 544,166,000 | 583,488,000 | 633,694,000 | 782,495,000 | 925,408,000 | 923,659,000 | 1,435,763,000 | 1,342,786,000 |
| Gross profit | 1,212,228,000 | 1,281,362,000 | 1,396,900,000 | 1,521,614,000 | 1,606,610,000 | 1,763,350,000 | 1,964,804,000 | 2,098,962,000 | 2,097,907,000 | 2,124,167,000 |
| Diluted EPS | 0.61 | 0.86 | 0.41 | 1.28 | 0.21 | 2.14 | 4.22 | 4.61 | 6.94 | 9.80 |
| Operating cash flow | 742,525,000 | 818,470,000 | 850,618,000 | 970,045,000 | 1,126,033,000 | 1,189,896,000 | 1,285,700,000 | 1,544,393,000 | 1,334,866,000 | 1,291,328,000 |
| Capital expenditures | 139,982,000 | 147,044,000 | 149,812,000 | 154,236,000 | 128,566,000 | 133,694,000 | 214,443,000 | 236,698,000 | 228,149,000 | 224,819,000 |
| Dividends paid | 83,387,000 | 207,689,000 | 253,580,000 | 306,766,000 | 369,960,000 | 424,191,000 | 479,012,000 | |||
| Share buybacks | 545,689,000 | 854,534,000 | 795,581,000 | 466,982,000 | 859,335,000 | 582,578,000 | 431,666,000 | 100,010,000 | 200,019,000 | 497,805,000 |
| Assets | 7,360,945,000 | 7,320,205,000 | 7,213,707,000 | 9,759,941,000 | 9,158,018,000 | 9,801,699,000 | 10,585,041,000 | 10,178,441,000 | 11,417,336,000 | 11,575,012,000 |
| Stockholders' equity | -1,995,921,000 | -2,599,114,000 | -3,376,823,000 | -3,667,007,000 | -4,824,382,000 | -5,283,404,000 | -5,276,315,000 | -5,170,882,000 | -5,109,938,000 | -4,853,519,000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 146,109,000 | 68,783,000 | 143,444,000 | 108,309,000 | 308,560,000 | 367,278,000 | 143,708,000 | 208,547,000 | 189,841,000 | 264,568,000 |
| Free cash flow | 602,543,000 | 671,426,000 | 700,806,000 | 815,809,000 | 997,467,000 | 1,056,202,000 | 1,071,257,000 | 1,307,695,000 | 1,106,717,000 | 1,066,509,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 4.67% | 6.00% | 2.54% | 7.30% | 1.16% | 10.29% | 17.52% | 18.51% | 27.97% | 37.43% |
| Operating margin | 23.72% | 26.54% | 29.17% | 28.96% | 30.42% | 33.89% | 35.14% | 34.06% | 53.58% | 47.70% |
| Return on assets | 1.04% | 1.42% | 0.66% | 1.51% | 0.26% | 2.42% | 4.36% | 4.93% | 6.56% | 9.10% |
| Current ratio | 0.37 | 0.93 | 0.31 | 0.32 | 0.77 | 1.00 | 0.69 | 0.36 | 1.10 | 0.29 |
Financial Charts
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-05-05. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001034054.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Q2 | 2022-06-30 | 0.64 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | 0.91 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | 0.93 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | 678,500,000 | 203,648,000 | 1.87 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | 682,544,000 | 87,419,000 | 0.80 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 675,024,000 | 109,528,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | 657,862,000 | 154,543,000 | 1.42 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | 660,477,000 | 162,830,000 | 1.51 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | 667,595,000 | 258,534,000 | 2.40 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | 693,700,000 | 173,630,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | 664,248,000 | 220,732,000 | 2.04 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | 698,981,000 | 225,794,000 | 2.09 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | 732,327,000 | 236,816,000 | 2.20 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | 719,583,000 | 370,290,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 703,438,000 | 184,830,000 | 1.74 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Macro Cross-References
- CPIAUCSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average
- UNRATE - Unemployment Rate
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- CES0500000003 - Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private
- DFEDTARU - Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit
- DFEDTARL - Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit
- DGS3MO - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity
- DGS2 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS30 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity
- T10Y2Y - 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity
- CPILFESL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy
- CPIUFDSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food
- CPIENGSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy
- CUSR0000SAH1 - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter
- PCEPI - Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index
- PCEPILFE - Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index
- PPIACO - Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities
- T10YIE - 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate
- U6RATE - Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm
- CIVPART - Labor Force Participation Rate
- EMRATIO - Employment-Population Ratio
- UNEMPLOY - Unemployed
- CE16OV - Employment Level
- ICSA - Initial Claims
- JTSJOL - Job Openings: Total Nonfarm
- JTSQUR - Quits: Total Nonfarm
- GDPC1 - Real Gross Domestic Product
- A191RL1Q225SBEA - Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period
- INDPRO - Industrial Production: Total Index
- TCU - Capacity Utilization: Total Index
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- RSAFS - Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade
- PCE - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- DSPIC96 - Real Disposable Personal Income
- PSAVERT - Personal Saving Rate
- M2SL - M2
- BOPGSTB - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance
- MSPUS - Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States
- HSN1F - New One Family Houses Sold: United States
- RHORUSQ156N - Homeownership Rate in the United States
- TTLCONS - Total Construction Spending: Total Construction in the United States
- RRVRUSQ156N - Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States
- TOTALSL - Total Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- REVOLSL - Revolving Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- DRCCLACBS - Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product
- GPDI - Gross Private Domestic Investment
- GCE - Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment
- PCEC - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- NETEXP - Net Exports of Goods and Services
- GFDEBTN - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt
- GFDEGDQ188S - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product
- FYFSD - Federal Surplus or Deficit
- FGRECPT - Federal Government Current Receipts
- FGEXPND - Federal Government: Current Expenditures
- MANEMP - All Employees, Manufacturing
- USCONS - All Employees, Construction
- USTRADE - All Employees, Retail Trade
- USFIRE - All Employees, Financial Activities
- USGOVT - All Employees, Government
- AWHAETP - Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Total Private
- DGORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
- NEWORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Nondefense Capital Goods Excluding Aircraft
- BUSINV - Total Business Inventories
- EXPGS - Exports of Goods and Services
- IMPGS - Imports of Goods and Services
- IR - Import Price Index (End Use): All Commodities
- PPIFIS - Producer Price Index by Commodity: Final Demand
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001034054-26-000009.
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, and Africa. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 98.5% of our total segment operating profit for the three months ended March 31, 2026. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease space to wireless service providers and other customers on assets that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of March 31, 2026, we owned 46,358 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, and Africa. As of March 31, 2026, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2026. In addition, as of March 31, 2026, approximately 30% and 10% of our total towers are located in Brazil and Guatemala, respectively, and no other international market (each country is considered a market) represented more than 5% of our total towers.
We derive site leasing revenues primarily from wireless service provider tenants. Wireless service providers enter into (1) individual tenant site leases with us, each of which relates to the lease or use of space at an individual site or (2) master lease agreements (“MLA”) with us, which provide for the material terms and conditions that will apply to multiple sites; although, in most cases, each individual site under a MLA is also governed by its own site leasing agreement which sets forth pricing and other site specific terms. Our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to fifteen years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. Our tenant leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index, or (3) escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. In addition, our international site leases may include pass-through charges, such as rent related to ground leases and other property interests, utilities, property taxes, and fuel.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases, right-of-use, and other underlying property interests;
Property taxes;
Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
Utilities;
Property insurance;
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Fuel (primarily in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
Lease initial direct cost amortization.
Ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. Our ground leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators or (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. As of March 31, 2026, approximately 70% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
In Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, substantially all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In most of our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Chile, and South Africa, substantially all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Costa Rica, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 14 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this quarterly report.
| For the three months ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | March 31, | |||||
| total operating profit | 2026 | 2025 | ||||
| Domestic site leasing | 71.3% | 76.9% | ||||
| International site leasing | 27.2% | 21.2% | ||||
| Total site leasing | 98.5% | 98.1% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to a lease that is non-renewed, cancelled, or discounted prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of specific technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion, and network coverage requirements.
During the remainder of 2026, we expect core leasing revenue to increase over 2025 levels, on a currency neutral basis, due in part to wireless carriers deploying additional capacity and increasing geographical coverage, the full year impact of towers acquired and built during 2025 and 2026, and the revenues from towers expected to be acquired and built during the remainder of 2026, partially offset by increased churn primarily driven by Sprint and EchoStar. Generally, we believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs, and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the nature and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
We expect churn to be elevated through 2026 due to churn in some of our markets. In our domestic markets, we currently expect churn to represent an aggregate of between $132.0 million and $136.0 million of cash site leasing revenue due in part to Sprint and EchoStar churn. In our international markets, we currently expect churn to represent an aggregate of between $36.0 million and $40.0 million of cash site leasing revenue due in part to Oi wireline churn.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing
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revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end-to-end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this quarterly report.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. In addition, in a high interest rate environment and when we believe interest rates may stay higher for longer, we believe that debt repayments, especially of our variable rate debt, may be an accretive use of our excess capital. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions to the extent that opportunities meet our internal return on invested capital criteria and through the construction of new towers.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes listed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as critical to our busin
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, and Africa. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we sold all of our towers and ended our operations in both the Philippines and Colombia and sold substantially all of our operations in Canada. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 97.9% of our total segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2025. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease space to wireless service providers and other customers on assets that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2025, we owned 46,328 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, and Africa. As of December 31, 2025, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025. In addition, as of December 31, 2025, approximately 30% and 10% of our total towers are located in Brazil and Guatemala, respectively, and no other international market (each country is considered a market) represented more than 5% of our total towers.
We derive site leasing revenues primarily from wireless service provider tenants. Wireless service providers enter into (1) individual tenant site leases with us, each of which relates to the lease or use of space at an individual site or (2) MLAs with us, which provide for the material terms and conditions that will apply to multiple sites; although, in most cases, each individual site under a MLA is also governed by its own site leasing agreement which sets forth pricing and other site specific terms. Our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to fifteen years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. Our tenant leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index, or (3) escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. In addition, our international site leases may include pass-through charges, such as rent related to ground leases and other property interests, utilities, property taxes, and fuel.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
•Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases, right-of-use, and other underlying property interests;
•Property taxes;
•Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
•Utilities;
•Property insurance;
•Fuel (primarily in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
•Lease initial direct cost amortization.
Ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. Our ground leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators or (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 71% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
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In Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, substantially all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In most of our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Chile, and South Africa, substantially all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Costa Rica, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
| For the year ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | December 31, | ||||||||
| total operating profit | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||
| Domestic site leasing | 74.7% | 75.9% | 75.2% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 23.2% | 22.5% | 22.2% | ||||||
| Total site leasing | 97.9% | 98.4% | 97.4% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to a lease that is non-renewed, cancelled, or discounted prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of specific technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion, and network coverage requirements.
During 2026, we expect core leasing revenue to increase over 2025 levels, on a currency neutral basis, due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum, the full year impact of towers acquired and built during 2025, and the revenues from towers expected to be acquired and built during 2026, partially offset by increased churn primarily driven by Sprint and EchoStar. Generally, we believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs, and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the nature and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
We expect churn to be elevated through 2026 due to churn in some of our markets. In our domestic markets, we currently expect churn to represent an aggregate of between $132.0 million and $136.0 million of cash site leasing revenue due in part to Sprint and EchoStar churn. In our international markets, we currently expect churn to represent an aggregate of between $36.0 million and $40.0 million of cash site leasing revenue due in part to Oi wireline churn.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end-to-end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report.
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Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. In addition, in a high interest rate environment and when we believe interest rates may stay higher for longer, we believe that debt repayments, especially of our variable rate debt, may be an accretive use of our excess capital. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions to the extent that opportunities meet our internal return on invested capital criteria and through the construction of new towers.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. Our preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.
Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable
Site leasing revenues
Revenue from site leasing is recognized on a straight-line basis over the non-cancelable term of the related lease agreements, which are generally five years to fifteen years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases are reflected in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from site leasing represents 91% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Site development revenues
Site development projects in which we perform consulting services include contracts on a fixed price basis that are billed at contractual rates. Revenue is recognized over time based on milestones achieved, which are determined based on costs incurred. Amounts billed in advance (collected or uncollected) are recorded as deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue from construction projects is recognized over time, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. Refer to Note 5 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in
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this annual report for further detail of costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.
The site development segment represents approximately 9% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025. We account for site development revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Payment terms do not result in any significant financing arrangements. Furthermore, these contracts do not typically include variable consideration; therefore, the transaction price that is recognized over time is generally the amount of the total contract.
Accounts receivable
The accounts receivable balance for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $171.3 million and $145.7 million, respectively, of which $48.3 million and $26.4 million related to the site development segment, respectively. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. In addition, we monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified, and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectibility is determined to be probable. Refer to Note 15 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of the site development segment.
Lease Accounting
ASC 842, Leases, requires all lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments. We have elected not to separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for all underlying classes of assets. In order to calculate our lease liability, we make certain assumptions related to lease term and discount rate. To determine the lease term, we consider all renewal periods that are reasonably certain to be exercised, taking into consideration all economic factors, including the communications site’s estimated economic life and the respective lease terms of our tenants under the existing lease arrangements on such site. For the discount rate, we use the rate implicit in the lease when available to discount lease payments to present value. However, our ground leases and other property interests generally do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. Therefore, we estimate the incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments based on the lease term and lease currency. We use publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating our incremental borrowing rates. Refer to Note 2 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further discussion on lease accounting.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, requiring public business entities to provide improved income tax disclosures on an annual basis, primarily through enhanced disclosures related to rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. We have elected to prospectively adopt the standard, refer to Note 14 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for our Income Tax disclosures.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income – Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, requiring improved expense disclosures, in the notes to the financial statements, of public business entities to provide more detailed information about certain costs and expenses. The standard is effective for annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the effect of this standard on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-06, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software, modernizing the accounting for costs related to internal-use software. The standard removed the development stage model and requires entities to begin capitalizing software costs when management authorizes and commits to funding the software project and when it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used for its intended purposes. The standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. We
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have elected to adopt the standard as of January 1, 2026. We do not expect that the adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This report presents our financial results and other financial metrics on a GAAP basis and, with respect to our international and consolidated results, after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of realized and unrealized gains and losses on our intercompany loans.
Year Ended 2025 Compared to Year Ended 2024
Revenues and Segment Operating Profit:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,865,602 | $ | 1,861,424 | $ | — | $ | 4,178 | 0.2% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 705,039 | 665,341 | (11,517) | 51,215 | 7.7% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 244,498 | 152,869 | — | 91,629 | 59.9% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,815,139 | $ | 2,679,634 | $ | (11,517) | $ | 147,022 | 5.5% | ||||||
| Cost of Revenues | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 279,205 | $ | 269,168 | $ | — | $ | 10,037 | 3.7% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 212,795 | 193,829 | (2,843) | 21,809 | 11.3% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 198,972 | 118,730 | — | 80,242 | 67.6% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 690,972 | $ | 581,727 | $ | (2,843) | $ | 112,088 | 19.3% | ||||||
| Operating Profit | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,586,397 | $ | 1,592,256 | $ | — | $ | (5,859) | (0.4%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 492,244 | 471,512 | (8,674) | 29,406 | 6.2% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 45,526 | 34,139 | — | 11,387 | 33.4% |
Revenues
Domestic site leasing revenues increased $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to (1) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual rent escalators and (2) revenues from 66 towers acquired and 54 towers built since January 1, 2024, partially offset by Sprint and other lease non-renewals and a decrease in non-cash straight line revenue.
International site leasing revenues increased $39.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing revenues increased $51.2 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) revenues from 7,266 towers acquired (including 7,110 towers related to the Millicom transaction) and 904 towers built since January 1, 2024, (2) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual escalators, and (3) increases in reimbursable pass-through expenses and non-cash straight line revenue, partially offset by lease non-renewals, tower divestitures and a decrease in lease early termination fees. Site leasing revenue in Brazil represented 13.6% of total site leasing revenue for the period. No other individual international market represented more than 5% of our total site leasing revenue.
Site development revenues increased $91.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity.
Operating Profit
Domestic site leasing segment operating profit decreased $5.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to Sprint and other lease non-renewals.
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International site leasing segment operating profit increased $20.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing segment operating profit increased $29.4 million. These changes were primarily due to higher international site leasing revenues as noted above and the positive impact of our ground lease purchase program, partially offset by the incremental costs associated with towers acquired and built since January 1, 2024.
Site development segment operating profit increased $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 129,447 | $ | 132,627 | $ | — | $ | (3,180) | (2.4%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 72,860 | 64,583 | (708) | 8,985 | 13.9% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 202,307 | $ | 197,210 | $ | (708) | $ | 5,805 | 2.9% | ||||||
| Site development | 12,936 | 13,983 | — | (1,047) | (7.5%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 62,368 | 47,563 | — | 14,805 | 31.1% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 277,611 | $ | 258,756 | $ | (708) | $ | 19,563 | 7.6% |
Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $18.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $19.6 million. These changes were driven primarily by increases in personnel and other support related costs (as a result of our increased presence in certain markets and entrance into Honduras), bad debt reserves, and non-cash compensation, partially offset by lower costs associated with our market divestitures.
Acquisition and New Business Initiatives Related Adjustments and Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 20,371 | $ | 14,954 | $ | — | $ | 5,417 | 36.2% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 6,949 | 10,992 | 79 | (4,122) | (37.5%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 27,320 | $ | 25,946 | $ | 79 | $ | 1,295 | 5.0% |
Domestic acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses increased $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily a result of higher new business initiative activity and an increase in our third party acquisition and integration costs as compared to the prior year.
International acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses decreased $4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses decreased $4.1 million. These changes were primarily as a result of a decrease in our third party acquisition and integration costs and lower new business initiative activity.
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Asset Impairment and Decommission Costs:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 122,422 | $ | 49,777 | $ | — | $ | 72,645 | 145.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 60,887 | 57,030 | (24,580) | 28,437 | 49.9% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 183,309 | $ | 106,807 | $ | (24,580) | $ | 101,082 | 94.6% | ||||||
| Other | 856 | 1,118 | — | (262) | (23.4%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 184,165 | $ | 107,925 | $ | (24,580) | $ | 100,820 | 93.4% |
Asset impairment and decommission costs increased $76.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, asset impairment and decommission costs increased $100.8 million. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in impairment charges resulting from our regular analysis of whether the future cash flows from certain towers are adequate to recover the carrying value of the investment in those towers (primarily related to EchoStar and Oi), partially offset by a decrease in tower and equipment related decommission costs.
Depreciation, Accretion, and Amortization Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 148,140 | $ | 145,041 | $ | — | $ | 3,099 | 2.1% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 132,107 | 113,549 | (2,309) | 20,867 | 18.4% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 280,247 | $ | 258,590 | $ | (2,309) | $ | 23,966 | 9.3% | ||||||
| Site development | 3,909 | 3,560 | — | 349 | 9.8% | ||||||||||
| Other | 8,129 | 7,367 | — | 762 | 10.3% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 292,285 | $ | 269,517 | $ | (2,309) | $ | 25,077 | 9.3% |
Depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $22.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $25.1 million. These changes were primarily due to the increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2024, partially offset by the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period.
Operating Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,166,017 | $ | 1,249,857 | $ | — | $ | (83,840) | (6.7%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 219,441 | 225,358 | 18,844 | (24,761) | (11.0%) | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 1,385,458 | $ | 1,475,215 | $ | 18,844 | $ | (108,601) | (7.4%) | ||||||
| Site development | 28,681 | 16,596 | — | 12,085 | 72.8% | ||||||||||
| Other | (71,353) | (56,048) | — | (15,305) | 27.3% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 1,342,786 | $ | 1,435,763 | $ | 18,844 | $ | (111,821) | (7.8%) |
Domestic site leasing operating income decreased $83.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to increases in asset impairment and decommission costs, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, and depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and lower segment operating profit, partially offset by a decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
International site leasing operating income decreased $5.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing operating income decreased $24.8 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense, asset impairment and decommission costs, and selling,
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general, and administrative expenses, partially offset by higher segment operating profit and a decrease in acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses.
Site development operating income increased $12.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher segment operating profit driven by increased carrier activity and a decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Other operating expense increased $15.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Other Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 31,676 | $ | 41,962 | $ | (152) | $ | (10,134) | (24.2%) | ||||||
| Interest expense | (467,910) | (399,778) | (57) | (68,075) | 17.0% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | (8,857) | (27,661) | — | 18,804 | (68.0%) | ||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred financing fees | (21,866) | (21,265) | — | (601) | 2.8% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | — | (5,940) | — | 5,940 | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | 366,209 | (250,415) | 357,111 | 259,513 | (3,187.7%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | (100,748) | $ | (663,097) | $ | 356,902 | $ | 205,447 | (48.8%) |
Interest income decreased $10.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, interest income decreased $10.1 million. These changes were primarily due to a lower amount of interest-bearing deposits held as compared to the prior year and a decrease in interest received on a loan to an unconsolidated joint venture as the loan was repaid on March 21, 2025.
Interest expense increased $68.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to our cash-interest bearing debt accruing interest at a higher weighted-average interest rate as compared to the prior year. The higher weighted-average interest rate experienced during the current year period was due to the higher blended rate of the interest rate swap agreements which replaced the previous swap on March 31, 2025.
Non-cash interest expense decreased $18.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to lower amortization of accumulated losses related to our interest rate swaps de-designated as cash flow hedges which reached their term end date in 2025.
Loss from extinguishment of debt, net was $5.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 which primarily represents the write-off of $3.3 million of unamortized financing fees and $1.2 million of the original issuance discount associated with the repayment of the 2018 Term Loan in January 2024.
Other income (expense), net includes a $208.4 million gain on sale of assets and a $121.5 million gain on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2025, while the prior year period included a $236.5 million loss on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries.
Provision for Income Taxes:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | $ | (187,582) | $ | (23,989) | $ | (122,148) | $ | (41,445) | 39.3% |
Provision for income taxes increased $163.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, provision for income taxes increased $41.4 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in current taxes due to the sale of our Canadian towers.
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Net Income:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 1,054,456 | $ | 748,677 | $ | 253,598 | $ | 52,181 | 5.7% |
Net income increased $305.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, net income increased $52.2 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in other income (expense), net and site development segment operating income and decreases in non-cash interest expense and loss from extinguishment of debt, partially offset by increases in provision for income taxes, interest expense and other operating expense and decreases in domestic segment operating income, interest income, and international segment operating income.
Year Ended 2024 Compared to Year Ended 2023
For a discussion of our 2024 Results of Operations, including a discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 26, 2025.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This report contains information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. We have provided below a description of Adjusted EBITDA, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure and an explanation as to why management utilizes this measure. This report also presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of non-cash straight-line leasing revenue, non-cash straight-line ground lease expense, non-cash compensation, net loss from extinguishment of debt, other income and expenses, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, interest income, interest expenses, depreciation, accretion, and amortization, and income taxes.
Management uses Adjusted EBITDA in evaluating, and believes that it is useful to investors in evaluating, the profitability of our operations and to evaluate our performance 1) from period to period and (2) compared to our competitors, by removing the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization and accretion) from our financial results. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is a widely used performance measure across the telecommunications real estate sector and management believes that it allows investors to evaluate our comparative performance without regard to items such as depreciation, amortization, and accretion, which can vary across different companies depending upon accounting methods and the book value of assets. Management also believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and the indentures relating to the 2020 Senior Notes and 2021 Senior Notes. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance.
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| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 1,054,456 | $ | 748,677 | $ | 253,598 | $ | 52,181 | 5.7% | ||||||
| Non-cash straight-line leasing revenue | (6,436) | (10,851) | (235) | 4,650 | (42.9%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash straight-line ground lease expense | (4,624) | (7,668) | 23 | 3,021 | (39.4%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | 75,734 | 74,374 | 53 | 1,307 | 1.8% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | — | 5,940 | — | (5,940) | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (366,209) | 250,415 | (357,111) | (259,513) | 3,187.7% | ||||||||||
| Acquisition and new business initiatives | |||||||||||||||
| related adjustments and expenses | 27,320 | 25,946 | 79 | 1,295 | 5.0% | ||||||||||
| Asset impairment and decommission costs | 184,165 | 107,925 | (24,580) | 100,820 | 93.4% | ||||||||||
| Interest income | (31,676) | (41,962) | 152 | 10,134 | (24.2%) | ||||||||||
| Interest expense (1) | 498,633 | 448,704 | 57 | 49,872 | 11.1% | ||||||||||
| Depreciation, accretion, and amortization | 292,285 | 269,517 | (2,309) | 25,077 | 9.3% | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes (2) | 188,456 | 23,328 | 122,172 | 42,956 | 41.0% | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,912,104 | $ | 1,894,345 | $ | (8,101) | $ | 25,860 | 1.4% |
(1)Total interest expense includes interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees.
(2)Includes franchise and gross receipts taxes reflected in selling, general, and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $17.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased $25.9 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in international site leasing segment operating profit and site development segment operating profit, partially offset by an increase in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses and a decrease in domestic site leasing segment operating profit.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
SBAC is a holding company with no business operations of its own. SBAC’s only significant asset is 100% of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, LLC (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly own all of our domestic and international towers and assets. We conduct all of our business operations through Telecommunications’ subsidiaries. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries.
Our capital allocation policy, which is built upon predictable strong cash flows, continues to prioritize opportunistically investment in quality assets, through acquisitions to the extent there are opportunities that meet our return criteria and through the construction of new towers, then stock repurchases, and then cash dividend growth over time. In addition, in a high interest rate environment and when we believe interest rates may stay higher for longer, we believe that debt repayments, especially of our variable rate debt, may be an accretive use of our excess capital.
A summary of our cash flows is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 1,291,328 | $ | 1,334,866 | ||
| Cash used in investing activities | (601,829) | (809,310) | ||||
| Cash (used in) provided by financing activities | (1,663,575) | 645,742 | ||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | (974,076) | 1,171,298 | ||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equiv., and restricted cash | 10,440 | (21,587) | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year | 1,400,657 | 250,946 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year | $ | 437,021 | $ | 1,400,657 |
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Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $1,291.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $1,334.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily due to increases in net interest expense and cash selling, general, and administrative expenses, as well as increases in cash outflows associated with working capital changes related to the timing of customer payments and a decrease in domestic site leasing segment operating profit. The decrease was partially offset by (1) increases in international site leasing segment operating profit and site development segment operating profit and (2) decreases in tower and equipment decommission costs.
Investing Activities
A detail of our investing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Acquisitions of towers and related assets | $ | (1,009,935) | $ | (243,635) | ||
| Land buyouts and other assets (1) | (48,893) | (56,176) | ||||
| Construction and related costs | (108,973) | (119,853) | ||||
| Augmentation and tower upgrades | (57,679) | (53,554) | ||||
| Tower maintenance | (53,547) | (49,210) | ||||
| General corporate | (4,620) | (5,532) | ||||
| Purchase of investments | (1,166,312) | (1,800,683) | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of investments | 1,404,262 | 1,536,750 | ||||
| Repayment (funding) of loan to unconsolidated joint venture | 115,000 | (11,100) | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of assets | 330,650 | 333 | ||||
| Other investing activities | (1,782) | (6,650) | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (601,829) | $ | (809,310) |
(1)Excludes $12.2 million and $24.9 million spent to extend ground lease terms for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. We recorded these amounts in prepaid expenses and other assets within the changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions section of our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
Subsequent to year end, we closed on an acquisition for the rights to land underneath approximately 3,900 communication sites in Guatemala for $109.0 million. As of the date of this filing, we purchased or are under contract to purchase 48 communication sites for an aggregate consideration of $45.0 million in cash. We anticipate that these acquisitions will be closed by the end of the second quarter of 2026.
For 2026, we expect to incur non-discretionary cash capital expenditures associated with tower maintenance and general corporate expenditures of $67.0 million to $77.0 million and discretionary cash capital expenditures, based on current or potential acquisition obligations, planned new tower construction, forecasted tower augmentations, and forecasted ground lease purchases, of $430.0 million to $450.0 million. We expect to fund these cash capital expenditures from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility or new financings. The exact amount of our future cash capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors, including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio, our new tower build and acquisition programs, and our ground lease purchase program.
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Financing Activities
A detail of our financing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Net repayments under Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | 475,000 | $ | (180,000) | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of Term Loans, net of fees (1) | — | 2,280,565 | ||||
| Repayment of Term Loans (1) | (23,000) | (2,292,244) | ||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Tower Securities, net of fees (1) | — | 2,052,136 | ||||
| Repayment of Tower Securities (1) | (1,165,000) | (620,269) | ||||
| Repurchase and retirement of common stock (2) | (497,805) | (200,019) | ||||
| Payment of dividends on common stock | (479,012) | (424,191) | ||||
| Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans, net of taxes | 30,047 | 17,185 | ||||
| Other financing activities | (3,805) | 12,579 | ||||
| Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | $ | (1,663,575) | $ | 645,742 |
(1)For additional information regarding our debt instruments and financings, refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below.
(2)During the year ended December 31, 2025, we purchased 2.5 million shares of our Class A common stock for $497.8 million at an average price per share of $200.73. Amounts reflected in the table are based on the settlement date. Subsequent to December 31, 2025, we purchased 12 thousand shares of our Class A common stock for $2.2 million at an average price per share of $188.66.
For a discussion of our Liquidity and Capital Resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 26, 2025.
Dividends
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we paid the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | Cash Paid | Aggregate Amount | ||||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Paid | Date Paid | ||||
| February 23, 2025 | March 13, 2025 | $1.11 | $122.3 million (1) | March 27, 2025 | ||||
| April 27, 2025 | May 22, 2025 | $1.11 | $119.4 million | June 17, 2025 | ||||
| August 3, 2025 | August 21, 2025 | $1.11 | $119.1 million | September 18, 2025 | ||||
| November 2, 2025 | November 13, 2025 | $1.11 | $118.2 million | December 11, 2025 |
(1)Amount reflected includes the payment of $2.4 million in dividend equivalents.
Dividends paid in 2025 and 2024 were ordinary taxable dividends.
Subsequent to December 31, 2025, we declared the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | Cash to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | be Paid | |||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Date to be Paid | |||
| February 25, 2026 | March 13, 2026 | $1.25 | March 27, 2026 |
The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by our Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy. The actual amount, timing, and frequency of future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.
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Registration Statements
We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or antenna sites and related assets or companies who own wireless communication towers, antenna sites, or related assets. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we did not issue any shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement. As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this registration statement.
We have on file with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for well-known seasoned issuers on Form S-3ASR, which enables us to issue shares of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or depositary shares as well as units that include any of these securities. We will file a prospectus supplement containing the amount and type of securities each time we issue securities under our automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we did not issue any securities under our automatic shelf registration statement.
Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements
Terms of the Senior Credit Agreement
The Senior Credit Agreement requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days, and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any fiscal quarter. The Senior Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of SBA Senior Finance II and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness, grant certain liens, make certain investments, enter into sale leaseback transactions, merge or consolidate, make certain restricted payments, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in certain asset dispositions, including a sale of all or substantially all of their property. The Senior Credit Agreement is also subject to customary events of default. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Term Loans and certain hedging transactions that may be entered into by SBA Senior Finance II or the Subsidiary Guarantors (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement) with lenders or their affiliates are secured by a first lien on the membership interests of SBA Telecommunications, LLC, SBA Senior Finance, LLC and SBA Senior Finance II and on substantially all of the assets (other than leasehold, easement and fee interests in real property) of SBA Senior Finance II and the Subsidiary Guarantors.
The Senior Credit Agreement permits SBA Senior Finance II, without the consent of the other lenders, to request that one or more lenders provide SBA Senior Finance II with increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans provided that after giving effect to the proposed increase in Revolving Credit Facility commitments or incremental term loans the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA would not exceed 6.5 times. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability to request such increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans is subject to its compliance with customary conditions set forth in the Senior Credit Agreement including compliance, on a pro forma basis, with the financial covenants and ratios set forth therein and, with respect to any additional term loan, an increase in the margin on existing term loans to the extent required by the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. Upon SBA Senior Finance II’s request, each lender may decide, in its sole discretion, whether to increase all or a portion of its Revolving Credit Facility commitment or whether to provide SBA Senior Finance II with additional term loans and, if so, upon what terms. As of December 31, 2025, SBA Senior Finance II was in compliance with the financial covenants contained in the Senior Credit Agreement.
Revolving Credit Facility under the Senior Credit Agreement
The Revolving Credit Facility consists of a revolving loan under which up to $2.0 billion aggregate principal amount may be borrowed, repaid, and redrawn, based upon specific financial ratios and subject to the satisfaction of other customary conditions to borrowing through the maturity date of January 25, 2029. Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility accrue interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either (1) the Eurodollar Rate or Term SOFR Rate plus a margin that ranges from 112.5 basis points to 150.0 basis points or (2) the Base Rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 50.0 basis points, in each case based on the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA, calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.15% and 0.25% per annum on the amount of unused commitment. Furthermore, the Revolving Credit Facility incorporates sustainability-linked targets which will adjust the Revolving Credit Facility’s applicable interest and commitment fee rates upward or downward based on how we perform against those targets. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be used for general corporate purposes. SBA Senior Finance II
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may, from time to time, borrow from and repay the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at the end of the period may not be reflective of the total amounts outstanding during such period.
The key terms of the Revolving Credit Facility are as follows:
| Unused | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate | Commitment | |||
| as of | Fee as of | |||
| December 31, 2025 (1) | December 31, 2025 (2) | |||
| Revolving Credit Facility | 4.815% | 0.140% |
(1)The rate reflected includes a 0.050% reduction in the applicable spread as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2024.
(2)The rate reflected includes a 0.010% reduction in the applicable commitment fee as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2024.
The table below summarizes our Revolving Credit Facility activity during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
| For the year | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended December 31, | ||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Beginning outstanding balance | $ | — | $ | 180,000 | ||
| Borrowings | 695,000 | 370,000 | ||||
| Repayments | (220,000) | (550,000) | ||||
| Ending outstanding balance | $ | 475,000 | $ | — |
Subsequent to December 31, 2025, we borrowed $775.0 million and repaid $45.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $1.205 billion was outstanding.
Term Loan under the Senior Credit Agreement
2024 Term Loan
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, issued a term loan (the “2024 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2024 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.3 billion that matures on January 25, 2031. The 2024 Term Loan (as amended on October 2, 2024) accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate (with a zero Base Rate floor) plus 75 basis points or at Term SOFR (with a floor of 0%) plus 175 basis points. The 2024 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. The 2024 Term Loan has a blended rate of 5.200%, which includes the impact of the current interest rate swap. Excluding the impact of the interest rate swap, the 2024 Term Loan was accruing interest at 5.470% as of December 31, 2025.
Principal payments on the 2024 Term Loan are made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $5.75 million. We incurred financing fees of approximately $19.4 million in relation to this transaction, which are being amortized through the maturity date.
During the year ended December 31, 2025, we repaid an aggregate of $23.0 million of principal on the 2024 Term Loan. As of December 31, 2025, the 2024 Term Loan had a principal balance of $2.3 billion.
Interest Rate Swaps
As of December 31, 2025, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, had interest rate swap agreements on our 2024 Term Loan which swap $2.0 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for a blended all-in fixed rate of 5.165% per annum through April 11, 2028.
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Secured Tower Revenue Securities
Tower Revenue Securities Terms
As of December 31, 2025, we, through a New York common law trust (the “Trust”), had issued and outstanding an aggregate of $7.2 billion of Secured Tower Revenue Securities (“Tower Securities”). The sole asset of the Trust consists of a non-recourse mortgage loan made in favor of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers on the mortgage loan (the “Borrowers”) under which there is a loan tranche for each Tower Security outstanding with the same interest rate and maturity date as the corresponding Tower Security. The mortgage loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from the aggregate 9,498 tower sites owned by the Borrowers as of December 31, 2025. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds to secure debt on a substantial portion of the tower sites, (2) a security interest in the tower sites and substantially all of the Borrowers’ personal property and fixtures, (3) the Borrowers’ rights under certain tenant leases, and (4) all of the proceeds of the foregoing. For each calendar month, SBA Network Management, Inc., an indirect subsidiary (“Network Management”), is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 4.5% of the Borrowers’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.
The Borrowers may prepay any of the mortgage loan components, in whole or in part, with no prepayment consideration, (1) within six months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2024-2C Tower Securities), twelve months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2020-1C Tower Securities, 2021-1C Tower Securities, 2021-2C Tower Securities, and 2022-1C Tower Securities), eighteen months (in the case of the components corresponding to the 2020-2C Tower Securities and 2021-3C Tower Securities), or twenty-four months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2024-1C Tower Securities) of the anticipated repayment date of such mortgage loan component, (2) with proceeds received as a result of any condemnation or casualty of any tower owned by the Borrowers or (3) during an amortization period. In all other circumstances, the Borrowers may prepay the mortgage loan, in whole or in part, upon payment of the applicable prepayment consideration. The prepayment consideration is determined based on the class of the Tower Securities to which the prepaid mortgage loan component corresponds and consists of an amount equal to the net present value associated with the portion of the principal balance being prepaid and calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in the mortgage loan agreement.
To the extent that the mortgage loan components corresponding to the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the interest rate of each such component will increase by the greater of (1) 5% and (2) the amount, if any, by which the sum of (x) the 10 year U.S. treasury rate plus (y) the credit-based spread for such component (as set forth in the mortgage loan agreement) plus (z) 5%, exceeds the original interest rate for such component.
Pursuant to the terms of the Tower Securities, all rents and other sums due on any of the towers owned by the Borrowers are directly deposited by the lessees into a controlled deposit account and are held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee after the release date are classified as short-term restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 4). However, if the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, defined as the net cash flow (as defined in the mortgage loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers are required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30x or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowers unless the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.30x for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the Debt Service Coverage Ratio falls below 1.15x as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the mortgage loan until such time that the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.15x for a calendar quarter. In addition, if any of the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the cash flow from the towers owned by the Borrowers will be trapped by the trustee for the Tower Securities and applied first to repay the interest, at the original interest rates, on the mortgage loan components underlying the Tower Securities, second to fund all reserve accounts and operating expenses associated with those towers, third to pay the management fees due to Network Management, fourth to repay principal of the Tower Securities and fifth to repay the additional interest discussed above. Furthermore, the advance rents reserve requirement states that the Borrowers are required to maintain an advance rents reserve at any time the monthly tenant Debt Service Coverage Ratio is equal to or less than 2:1 and for two calendar months after such coverage ratio again exceeds 2:1. The mortgage loan agreement, as amended, also includes covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets.
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The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Tower Securities as of December 31, 2025:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-1C Tower Securities (2) | Jul. 14, 2020 | $750.0 | 1.884% | Jan. 9, 2026 | Jul. 11, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $600.0 | 2.328% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $1,165.0 | 1.631% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 1.840% | Apr. 9, 2027 | Oct. 10, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 2.593% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $850.0 | 6.599% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2024-1C Tower Securities | Oct. 11, 2024 | $1,450.0 | 4.831% | Oct. 9, 2029 | Oct. 8, 2054 | |||||||||
| 2024-2C Tower Securities (3) | Oct. 11, 2024 | $620.0 | 4.654% | Oct. 8, 2027 | Oct. 8, 2054 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
(2)On January 9, 2026, we, using borrowings from the Revolving Credit Facility, repaid the aggregate principal amount of the 2020-1C Tower Securities.
(3)The interest rate reflected is the all-in fixed rate which includes the impact of the treasury lock agreement entered into on September 11, 2024 which settled upon issuance of the notes. The treasury lock agreement fixed the three-year treasury rate at 3.3985% for $620.0 million of notional value related to the 2024-2C Tower Securities issued on October 11, 2024. Excluding the impact of the treasury lock agreement, the 2024-2C Tower Securities accrue interest at 5.115%.
The table below sets forth the material terms of our Tower Securities that were repaid during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023:
| Security (1) | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (2) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Actual Repayment Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $1,165.0 | 2.836% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 15, 2025 | |||||||||
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 15, 2014 | $620.0 | 3.869% | Oct. 8, 2024 | Oct. 8, 2024 |
(1)Interest was paid monthly.
Risk Retention Tower Securities
To satisfy certain risk retention requirements of Regulation RR promulgated under the Exchange Act, SBA Guarantor, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased the Risk Retention Tower Securities. Principal and interest payments made on the 2020-2R Tower Securities, 2021-1R Tower Securities, 2021-3R Tower Securities, 2022-1R Tower Securities, and 2024-1R Tower Securities eliminate in consolidation. Principal and interest payments made on the 2019-1R Tower Securities eliminated in consolidation.
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Risk Retention Tower Securities as of December 31, 2025:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2R Tower Securities (2) | Jul. 14, 2020 | $71.1 | 4.336% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1R Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $61.4 | 3.598% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3R Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $94.3 | 4.090% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1R Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $44.8 | 7.870% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2024-1R Tower Securities | Oct. 11, 2024 | $108.7 | 6.252% | Oct. 9, 2029 | Oct. 8, 2054 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
(2)On January 30, 2026, we repaid $39.5 million of the principal amount of the 2020-2R Tower Securities. As of the date of this filing, the remaining balance of the 2020-2R Tower Securities was $31.6 million.
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The table below sets forth the material terms of our Risk Retention Tower Securities that were repaid during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Actual Repayment Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1R Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $61.4 | 4.213% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 15, 2025 |
Debt Covenants
As of December 31, 2025, the Borrowers met the debt service coverage ratio required by the mortgage loan agreement and were in compliance with all other covenants as set forth in the agreement.
Senior Notes
Indentures Governing Senior Notes
The Indentures governing the Senior Notes contain customary covenants, subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including restrictions on the ability of SBAC and Telecommunications to (1) incur additional indebtedness unless the Consolidated Indebtedness to Annualized Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Ratio (as defined in the Indenture), pro forma for the additional indebtedness does not exceed, with respect to any fiscal quarter, 9.5x for SBAC, (2) merge, consolidate, or sell assets, (3) make restricted payments, including dividends or other distributions, (4) enter into transactions with affiliates, and (5) enter into sale and leaseback transactions and restrictions on the ability of the Restricted Subsidiaries of SBAC (as defined in the Indentures) to incur liens securing indebtedness. We may redeem each of the senior notes prior to their maturity date at 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest.
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding senior notes as of December 31, 2025:
| Senior Notes | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate Coupon | Maturity Date | Interest Due Dates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Senior Notes | Feb. 4, 2020 | $1,500.0 | 3.875% | Feb. 15, 2027 | Feb. 15 & Aug. 15 | |||||
| 2021 Senior Notes | Jan. 29, 2021 | $1,500.0 | 3.125% | Feb. 1, 2029 | Feb. 1 & Aug. 1 |
Debt Service
As of December 31, 2025, we believe that our cash on hand, capacity available under our Revolving Credit Facility, and cash flows from operations for the next twelve months will be sufficient to service our outstanding debt during the next twelve months.
The following table illustrates our estimate of our debt service requirement over the next twelve months ended December 31, 2026 based on the amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2025 and the interest rates accruing on those amounts on such date:
| (in thousands) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | 25,006 | |
| 2024 Term Loan (2) | 140,508 | ||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities (3) | 750,556 | ||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | 14,159 | ||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | 1,181,842 | ||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | 16,752 | ||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | 23,491 | ||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | 56,362 | ||
| 2024-1C Tower Securities | 70,510 | ||
| 2024-2C Tower Securities | 29,052 | ||
| 2020 Senior Notes | 58,125 | ||
| 2021 Senior Notes | 46,875 | ||
| Total debt service for the next 12 months | $ | 2,413,238 |
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(1)As of December 31, 2025, $475.0 million was outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility. Subsequent to December 31, 2025, we borrowed $775.0 million and repaid $45.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $1.205 billion was outstanding.
(2)Total debt service on the 2024 Term Loan reflects a blended rate of 5.200%, which includes the impact of the interest rate swaps. Excluding the impact of the interest rate swap, the 2024 Term Loan was accruing interest at 5.470% as of December 31, 2025.
(3)On January 9, 2026, we repaid the aggregate principal amount of the 2020-1C Tower Securities.
Inflation
The impact of inflation on our operations has not been material to date. However, the impact of higher interest rates, has impacted, and is expected to continue to impact, our growth rate and future operating results. Higher interest rates have impacted, and are expected to continue to impact, the ability and willingness of wireless service providers to incur capital expenditures at prior levels to expand their networks, which could adversely affect our future revenue growth rates. In addition, increased interest rates may adversely affect our costs to refinance our indebtedness at maturity. In addition, persistent high rates of inflation could adversely affect our future operating results particularly in light of the fact that our site leasing revenues are governed by long-term contracts with pre-determined pricing that we will not be able to increase in response to increases in inflation other than our contracts in South America and Africa which have inflationary index-based rent escalators.
MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.
FY 2024 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001034054-25-000002.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, Canada, and Africa. On January 10, 2025, we sold all of our towers and ended our operations in the Philippines and on February 20, 2025, we entered into an agreement to sell all of our towers and related assets held in Colombia. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 98.4% of our total segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2024. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease space to wireless service providers and other customers on assets that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2024, we owned 39,749 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, Canada, and Africa. As of December 31, 2024, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024. In addition, as of December 31, 2024, approximately 30% of our total towers are located in Brazil and no other international market (each country is considered a market) represented more than 5% of our total towers.
We derive site leasing revenues primarily from wireless service provider tenants. Wireless service providers enter into either (1) standalone individual tenant site leases with us, each of which relates to the lease or use of space at an individual site, or (2) master
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lease agreements (“MLA”) with us, which provide for the material terms and conditions that will apply to multiple sites; although, in most cases, each individual site under a MLA is also governed by its own site leasing agreement which sets forth pricing and other site specific terms. Our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to fifteen years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. Our tenant leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index, or (3) escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. In addition, our international site leases may include pass-through charges, such as rent related to ground leases and other property interests, utilities, property taxes, and fuel.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
•Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases, right-of-use, and other underlying property interests;
•Property taxes;
•Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
•Utilities;
•Property insurance;
•Fuel (in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
•Lease initial direct cost amortization.
Ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. Our ground leases either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, or (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 72% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
In Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In most of our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Canada, Chile, and South Africa, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
| For the year ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | December 31, | ||||||||
| total operating profit | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||
| Domestic site leasing | 75.9% | 75.2% | 77.0% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 22.5% | 22.2% | 19.2% | ||||||
| Total site leasing | 98.4% | 97.4% | 96.2% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to a lease that is non-renewed, cancelled, or discounted prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of specific technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion, and network coverage requirements.
During 2025, we expect core leasing revenue in both our domestic and international segments to increase over 2024 levels, on a currency neutral basis, due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum, the full year impact of towers acquired and built during 2024, and the revenues from towers expected to be acquired and built during 2025. We believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs, and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the nature and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers
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are strategically positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end-to-end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. In addition, in a high interest rate environment and when we believe interest rates may stay higher for longer, we believe that debt repayments, especially of our variable rate debt, may be an accretive use of our excess capital. While the addition of cash dividends and debt repayments have provided us with additional tools to return value to our shareholders, we continue to believe that our priority is to make investments focused on increasing Adjusted Funds From Operations per share. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions and the construction of new towers that meet our internal return on invested capital criteria.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy when we believe our share price is below its intrinsic value. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. Our preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.
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During the first quarter of 2024, we completed our assessment on the remaining estimated useful lives of our towers and intangible assets. We concluded through our assessment that, for U.S. GAAP purposes, we should modify our current estimates for asset lives based on our historical operating experience and the findings obtained by our independent consultant. We previously depreciated our towers on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the (i) term of the underlying ground lease (including renewal options) taking into account residual value or (ii) estimated useful life of a tower, which we had historically estimated to be 15 years. Based on our assessment, we revised the estimated useful lives of our towers and certain related intangible assets (which are amortized on a similar basis to our tower assets, as their useful lives correlate to the useful life of the towers) from 15 years to 30 years, effective January 1, 2024. We accounted for the change in estimated useful lives as a change in estimate under ASC 250 “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections.” The impact of the change in estimate was accounted for prospectively effective January 1, 2024, resulting in a reduction in depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $411.5 million ($372.5 million after tax, or an increase of $3.45 per diluted share) for the year ended December 31, 2024. There have been no other material changes to our significant accounting policies during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable
Site leasing revenues
Revenue from site leasing is recognized on a straight-line basis over the current term of the related lease agreements, which are generally five years to fifteen years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases are reflected in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from site leasing represents 94% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Site development revenues
Site development projects in which we perform consulting services include contracts on a fixed price basis that are billed at contractual rates. Revenue is recognized over time based on milestones achieved, which are determined based on costs incurred. Amounts billed in advance (collected or uncollected) are recorded as deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue from construction projects is recognized over time, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. Refer to Note 5 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.
The site development segment represents approximately 6% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024. We account for site development revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Payment terms do not result in any significant financing arrangements. Furthermore, these contracts do not typically include variable consideration; therefore, the transaction price that is recognized over time is generally the amount of the total contract.
Accounts receivable
The accounts receivable balance for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $145.7 million and $182.7 million, respectively, of which $26.4 million and $32.3 million related to the site development segment, respectively. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. In addition, we monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified, and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectibility is determined to be probable. Refer to Note 15 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of the site development segment.
Lease Accounting
ASC 842, Leases, requires all lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments. We have elected not to separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for all underlying classes of assets. In order to calculate our lease liability, we make certain assumptions related to lease term and discount rate. To determine the lease term, we consider all renewal periods that are reasonably certain to be exercised, taking into consideration all economic factors, including the communications site’s estimated economic life and the respective lease terms of our tenants under
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the existing lease arrangements on such site. For the discount rate, we use the rate implicit in the lease when available to discount lease payments to present value. However, our ground leases and other property interests generally do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. Therefore, we estimate the incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments based on the lease term and lease currency. We use publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating our incremental borrowing rates. Refer to Note 2 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further discussion on lease accounting.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This report presents our financial results and other financial metrics on a GAAP basis and, with respect to our international and consolidated results, after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of realized and unrealized gains and losses on our intercompany loans.
Year Ended 2024 Compared to Year Ended 2023
Revenues and Segment Operating Profit:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,861,424 | $ | 1,846,554 | $ | — | $ | 14,870 | 0.8% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 665,341 | 670,381 | (37,553) | 32,513 | 4.8% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 152,869 | 194,649 | — | (41,780) | (21.5%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,679,634 | $ | 2,711,584 | $ | (37,553) | $ | 5,603 | 0.2% | ||||||
| Cost of Revenues | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 269,168 | $ | 268,572 | $ | — | $ | 596 | 0.2% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 193,829 | 204,115 | (11,016) | 730 | 0.4% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 118,730 | 139,935 | — | (21,205) | (15.2%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 581,727 | $ | 612,622 | $ | (11,016) | $ | (19,879) | (3.2%) | ||||||
| Operating Profit | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,592,256 | $ | 1,577,982 | $ | — | $ | 14,274 | 0.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 471,512 | 466,266 | (26,537) | 31,783 | 6.8% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 34,139 | 54,714 | — | (20,575) | (37.6%) |
Revenues
Domestic site leasing revenues increased $14.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to (1) organic site leasing growth, primarily from monetary lease amendments (due in part to our 2023 MLA with AT&T) and additional equipment added to our towers as well as new leases and contractual rent escalators and (2) revenues from 130 towers acquired and 39 towers built since January 1, 2023, partially offset by lease non-renewals.
International site leasing revenues decreased $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing revenues increased $32.5 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) lease early termination fees, (2) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual escalators, and (3) revenues from 147 towers acquired and 783 towers built since January 1, 2023, partially offset by lease non-renewals and a decrease in reimbursable pass-through expenses. Site leasing revenue in Brazil represented 15.0% of total site leasing revenue for the period. No other individual international market represented more than 5% of our total site leasing revenue.
Site development revenues decreased $41.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, as a result of decreased carrier activity.
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Operating Profit
Domestic site leasing segment operating profit increased $14.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher domestic site leasing revenue as noted above, partially offset by the incremental costs associated with towers acquired and built since January 1, 2023.
International site leasing segment operating profit increased $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing segment operating profit increased $31.8 million. These changes were primarily due to higher international site leasing revenues as noted above, partially offset by the incremental costs associated with towers acquired and built since January 1, 2023.
Site development segment operating profit decreased $20.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, as a result of decreased carrier activity.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 132,627 | $ | 121,782 | $ | — | $ | 10,845 | 8.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 64,583 | 66,619 | (2,974) | 938 | 1.4% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 197,210 | $ | 188,401 | $ | (2,974) | $ | 11,783 | 6.3% | ||||||
| Site development | 13,983 | 21,316 | — | (7,333) | (34.4%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 47,563 | 58,219 | — | (10,656) | (18.3%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 258,756 | $ | 267,936 | $ | (2,974) | $ | (6,206) | (2.3%) |
Selling, general, and administrative expenses decreased $9.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, selling, general, and administrative expenses decreased $6.2 million. These changes were driven primarily by a decrease in non-cash compensation expense as well as the $3.1 million Oi reserve recorded in 2023, partially offset by an increase in personnel, and other support related costs.
Acquisition and New Business Initiatives Related Adjustments and Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 14,954 | $ | 10,725 | $ | — | $ | 4,229 | 39.4% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 10,992 | 10,946 | (467) | 513 | 4.7% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 25,946 | $ | 21,671 | $ | (467) | $ | 4,742 | 21.9% |
Acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses increased $4.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses increased $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in our third party acquisition and integration costs as well as higher new business initiative activity as compared to the prior year.
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Asset Impairment and Decommission Costs:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 49,777 | $ | 138,699 | $ | — | $ | (88,922) | (64.1%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 57,030 | 28,089 | (3,762) | 32,703 | 116.4% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 106,807 | $ | 166,788 | $ | (3,762) | $ | (56,219) | (33.7%) | ||||||
| Site development | — | 372 | — | (372) | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 1,118 | 2,227 | — | (1,109) | (49.8%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 107,925 | $ | 169,387 | $ | (3,762) | $ | (57,700) | (34.1%) |
Domestic site leasing asset impairment and decommission costs decreased $88.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily as a result of a decrease in impairment charges resulting from our regular analysis of whether the future cash flows from certain towers are adequate to recover the carrying value of the investment in those towers and a decrease in tower and equipment related decommission costs. The prior year included increased impairment charges resulting from the planned abandonment of identified sites with minimal expectations of future economic benefit (primarily from Sprint churn).
International site leasing asset impairment and decommission costs increased $28.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing asset impairment and decommission costs increased $32.7 million. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in impairment charges resulting from our regular analysis of whether the future cash flows from certain towers are adequate to recover the carrying value of the investment in those towers and an increase in tower decommission costs.
Depreciation, Accretion, and Amortization Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 145,041 | $ | 457,169 | $ | — | $ | (312,128) | (68.3%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 113,549 | 248,758 | (5,893) | (129,316) | (52.0%) | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 258,590 | $ | 705,927 | $ | (5,893) | $ | (441,444) | (62.5%) | ||||||
| Site development | 3,560 | 3,704 | — | (144) | (3.9%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 7,367 | 6,678 | — | 689 | 10.3% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 269,517 | $ | 716,309 | $ | (5,893) | $ | (440,899) | (61.6%) |
Depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $446.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $440.9 million. These changes were primarily due to the change in estimated useful lives of our towers and certain related intangible assets from our historical estimate of 15 years to a revised estimate of 30 years (effective January 1, 2024) and the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period, partially offset by an increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2023.
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Operating Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,249,857 | $ | 849,607 | $ | — | $ | 400,250 | 47.1% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 225,358 | 111,854 | (13,441) | 126,945 | 113.5% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 1,475,215 | $ | 961,461 | $ | (13,441) | $ | 527,195 | 54.8% | ||||||
| Site development | 16,596 | 29,322 | — | (12,726) | (43.4%) | ||||||||||
| Other | (56,048) | (67,124) | — | 11,076 | (16.5%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 1,435,763 | $ | 923,659 | $ | (13,441) | $ | 525,545 | 56.9% |
Domestic site leasing operating income increased $400.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to decreases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and asset impairment and decommission costs and higher segment operating profit, partially offset by increases in selling, general, and administrative expenses and acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses.
International site leasing operating income increased $113.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing operating income increased $126.9 million. These changes were primarily due to a decrease in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and higher segment operating profit, partially offset by an increase in asset impairment and decommission costs.
Site development operating income decreased $12.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to lower segment operating profit driven by less carrier activity, partially offset by a decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Other operating expense decreased $11.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to decreases in selling, general, and administrative expenses and asset impairment and decommission costs.
Other Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 41,962 | $ | 18,305 | $ | (515) | $ | 24,172 | 132.1% | ||||||
| Interest expense | (399,778) | (400,373) | 282 | 313 | (0.1%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | (27,661) | (35,868) | (1) | 8,208 | (22.9%) | ||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred financing fees | (21,265) | (20,273) | — | (992) | 4.9% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | (5,940) | — | — | (5,940) | —% | ||||||||||
| Other (expense) income, net | (250,415) | 63,053 | (320,596) | 7,128 | (52.2%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | (663,097) | $ | (375,156) | $ | (320,830) | $ | 32,889 | (7.3%) |
Interest income increased $23.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, interest income increased $24.2 million. These changes were primarily due to a higher amount of interest-bearing deposits held and a higher effective interest rate on those deposits as compared to the prior year, as well as interest received on a loan to an unconsolidated joint venture.
Interest expense decreased $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, interest expense decreased $0.3 million. These changes were primarily due to a lower average principal amount of variable rate cash-interest bearing debt, partially offset by a higher interest rate on said variable debt as compared to the prior year, as well as a higher average principal amount of fixed rate cash-interest bearing debt accruing interest at a higher weighted-average interest rate.
Non-cash interest expense decreased $8.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to lower amortization of accumulated losses related to our interest rate swaps de-designated as cash flow hedges which reached their term end date in 2023.
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Loss from extinguishment of debt, net was $5.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 which primarily represents the write-off of $3.3 million of unamortized financing fees and $1.2 million of the original issuance discount associated with the repayment of the 2018 Term Loan in January 2024.
Other (expense) income, net includes a $236.5 million loss on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2024, while the prior year period included an $81.2 million gain on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries and a $7.6 million loss on the sale of tower assets.
Provision for Income Taxes:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | $ | (23,989) | $ | (51,088) | $ | 112,443 | $ | (85,344) | 363.4% |
Provision for income taxes decreased $27.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, provision for income taxes increased $85.3 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in deferred taxes primarily due to the release of the valuation allowance on the domestic TRS in the prior year, partially offset by a decrease in current taxes.
Net Income:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 748,677 | $ | 497,415 | $ | (221,828) | $ | 473,090 | 105.5% |
Net income increased $251.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, net income increased $473.1 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in site leasing operating income (inclusive of a $372.5 million benefit related to our revision of the estimated useful lives of our towers and certain related intangible assets), interest income, and other (expense) income, net, and a decrease in non-cash interest expense, partially offset by increases in provision for income taxes and loss from extinguishment of debt, net and a decrease in site development operating income.
Year Ended 2023 Compared to Year Ended 2022
For a discussion of our 2023 Results of Operations, including a discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This report contains information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. We have provided below a description of Adjusted EBITDA, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure and an explanation as to why management utilizes this measure. This report also presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of non-cash straight-line leasing revenue, non-cash straight-line ground lease expense, non-cash compensation, net loss from extinguishment of debt, other income and expenses, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, interest income, interest expenses, depreciation, accretion, and amortization, and income taxes.
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We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors or other interested parties in evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by management (1) to evaluate the economic productivity of our operations and (2) for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to, and assessing the performance of, our operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA helps investors or other interested parties to meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations (1) from period to period and (2) to our competitors, by excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization, and accretion) from our financial results. Management also believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and the indentures relating to the 2020 Senior Notes and 2021 Senior Notes. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance.
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 748,677 | $ | 497,415 | $ | (221,828) | $ | 473,090 | 105.5% | ||||||
| Non-cash straight-line leasing revenue | (10,851) | (25,206) | (160) | 14,515 | (57.6%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash straight-line ground lease expense | (7,668) | (686) | (201) | (6,781) | 988.5% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | 74,374 | 87,919 | (521) | (13,024) | (14.8%) | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | 5,940 | — | — | 5,940 | —% | ||||||||||
| Other expense (income), net | 250,415 | (63,053) | 320,596 | (7,128) | 52.2% | ||||||||||
| Acquisition and new business initiatives | |||||||||||||||
| related adjustments and expenses | 25,946 | 21,671 | (467) | 4,742 | 21.9% | ||||||||||
| Asset impairment and decommission costs | 107,925 | 169,387 | (3,762) | (57,700) | (34.1%) | ||||||||||
| Interest income | (41,962) | (18,305) | 515 | (24,172) | 132.1% | ||||||||||
| Interest expense (1) | 448,704 | 456,514 | (281) | (7,529) | (1.6%) | ||||||||||
| Depreciation, accretion, and amortization | 269,517 | 716,309 | (5,893) | (440,899) | (61.6%) | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes (2) | 23,328 | 51,885 | (112,444) | 83,887 | 345.5% | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,894,345 | $ | 1,893,850 | $ | (24,446) | $ | 24,941 | 1.3% |
(1)Total interest expense includes interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees.
(2)Provision for income taxes includes a $0.7 million benefit from franchise and gross receipts taxes for the year ended December 31, 2024 and $0.8 million of franchise taxes for the year ended December 31, 2023 reflected in selling, general, and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased $24.9 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in site leasing segment operating profit, partially offset by a decrease in site development segment operating profit and an increase in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
SBAC is a holding company with no business operations of its own. SBAC’s only significant asset is 100% of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, LLC (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly own all of our domestic and international towers and assets. We conduct all of our business operations through Telecommunications’ subsidiaries. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries.
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A summary of our cash flows is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 1,334,866 | $ | 1,544,393 | ||
| Cash used in investing activities | (809,310) | (468,246) | ||||
| Cash provided by (used in) financing activities | 645,742 | (1,017,218) | ||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | 1,171,298 | 58,929 | ||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equiv., and restricted cash | (21,587) | 2,734 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year | 250,946 | 189,283 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year | $ | 1,400,657 | $ | 250,946 |
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $1.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $1.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to an increase in cash outflows associated with working capital changes related to the timing of customer payments and increases in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses and cash asset impairment and decommission costs as well as a decrease in site development segment operating profit, partially offset by increases in site leasing segment operating profit and interest income.
Investing Activities
A detail of our cash capital expenditures is as follows:
| For the year ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | ||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Acquisitions of towers and related assets | $ | (243,635) | $ | (86,686) | ||
| Land buyouts and other assets (1) | (56,176) | (43,275) | ||||
| Construction and related costs | (119,853) | (98,128) | ||||
| Augmentation and tower upgrades | (53,554) | (82,493) | ||||
| Tower maintenance | (49,210) | (50,463) | ||||
| General corporate | (5,532) | (5,614) | ||||
| Other investing activities (2)(3) | (281,350) | (101,587) | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (809,310) | $ | (468,246) |
(1)Excludes $24.9 million and $17.6 million spent to extend ground lease terms for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We recorded these amounts in prepaid expenses and other assets within the changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions section of our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
(2)Includes amounts paid for the purchase of and received from the sale of short-term investments during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.
(3)Includes $11.1 million and $100.5 million of loans to an unconsolidated joint venture for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, we entered into an agreement to purchase over 7,000 communication sites in Central America from Millicom International Cellular S.A. (“Millicom”) for approximately $975.0 million in cash. These sites are located in Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, with significantly all cash flows denominated in USD. Upon closing, Millicom will enter into country-specific MLAs to lease back space on all acquired sites for an initial term of 15 years. The MLAs will also incorporate an extension to our approximately 1,500 existing site leases with Millicom for a new 15-year term. Additionally, as part of the purchase agreement, we have agreed to a seven-year exclusivity right with Millicom for us to build up to 2,500 build-to-suit sites in Central America for Millicom with new leases on any sites built having an initial lease term of 15 years. This transaction has an estimated closing date of September 1, 2025; however, the ultimate closing is dependent upon regulatory approvals and other requirements and may differ from this date.
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In addition to the Millicom transaction, subsequent to December 31, 2024, we purchased or are under contract to purchase 32 communication sites for an aggregate consideration of $14.6 million in cash. We anticipate that these acquisitions will be closed by the end of the second quarter of 2025.
For 2025, we expect to incur non-discretionary cash capital expenditures associated with tower maintenance and general corporate expenditures of $53.0 million to $63.0 million and discretionary cash capital expenditures, based on current or potential acquisition obligations, planned new tower construction, forecasted tower augmentations, and forecasted ground lease purchases, of $1,255.0 million to $1,275.0 million. We expect to fund these cash capital expenditures from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility or new financings. The exact amount of our future cash capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors, including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio, our new tower build and acquisition programs, and our ground lease purchase program.
Financing Activities
A detail of our financing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Net repayments under Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | (180,000) | $ | (540,000) | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of Term Loans, net of fees (1) | 2,280,565 | — | ||||
| Repayment of Term Loans (1) | (2,292,244) | (24,000) | ||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Tower Securities, net of fees (1) | 2,052,136 | — | ||||
| Repayment of Tower Securities (1) | (620,269) | — | ||||
| Repurchase and retirement of common stock (2) | (200,019) | (100,010) | ||||
| Payment of dividends on common stock | (424,191) | (369,960) | ||||
| Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans, net of taxes | 17,185 | 16,715 | ||||
| Other financing activities | 12,579 | 37 | ||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | $ | 645,742 | $ | (1,017,218) |
(1)For additional information regarding our debt instruments and financings, refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below.
(2)As of the date of this filing, we had $204.7 million remaining under the current authorized share repurchase plan.
For a discussion of our Liquidity and Capital Resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024.
Dividends
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we paid the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | Cash Paid | Aggregate Amount | ||||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Paid | Date Paid | ||||
| February 26, 2024 | March 14, 2024 | $0.98 | $108.1 million (1) | March 28, 2024 | ||||
| April 29, 2024 | May 23, 2024 | $0.98 | $105.3 million | June 18, 2024 | ||||
| July 28, 2024 | August 22, 2024 | $0.98 | $105.3 million | September 18, 2024 | ||||
| October 27, 2024 | November 14, 2024 | $0.98 | $105.4 million | December 12, 2024 |
(1)Amount reflected includes the payment of $1.9 million in dividend equivalents.
Dividends paid in 2024 and 2023 were ordinary taxable dividends.
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Subsequent to December 31, 2024, we declared the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | Cash to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | be Paid | |||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Date to be Paid | |||
| February 23, 2025 | March 13, 2025 | $1.11 | March 27, 2025 |
The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by our Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual amount, timing, and frequency of future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Registration Statements
We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or antenna sites and related assets or companies who own wireless communication towers, antenna sites, or related assets. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we did not issue any shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this registration statement.
On February 29, 2024, we filed with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for well-known seasoned issuers on Form S-3ASR which enables us to issue shares of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or depositary shares as well as units that include any of these securities. We will file a prospectus supplement containing the amount and type of securities each time we issue securities under our automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we did not issue any securities under our automatic shelf registration statement.
Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements
The Senior Credit Agreement
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary SBA Senior Finance II, amended and restated our Senior Credit Agreement to (1) issue a new $2.3 billion Term Loan and retire the 2018 Term Loan, (2) increase the total commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion, (3) extend the maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility to January 25, 2029, and (4) amend certain other terms and conditions under the Senior Credit Agreement.
On February 23, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, further increased the total commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility from $1.75 billion to $2.0 billion.
On October 2, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, amended our Senior Credit Agreement to (1) reduce the stated rate of interest of the Initial Term Loans from, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, the Base Rate plus 100 basis points or Term SOFR plus 200 basis points to, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, the Base Rate plus 75 basis points or Term SOFR plus 175 basis points, and (2) amend certain other terms and conditions under the Senior Credit Agreement.
Terms of the Senior Credit Agreement
The Senior Credit Agreement requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days, and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any fiscal quarter. The Senior Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of SBA Senior Finance II and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness, grant certain liens, make certain investments, enter into sale leaseback transactions, merge or consolidate, make certain restricted payments, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in certain asset dispositions, including a sale of all or substantially all of their property. The Senior Credit Agreement is also subject to customary events of default. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Term Loans and certain hedging transactions that may be entered into by SBA Senior Finance II or the Subsidiary Guarantors (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement) with lenders or their affiliates are secured by a first lien on the
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membership interests of SBA Telecommunications, LLC, SBA Senior Finance, LLC and SBA Senior Finance II and on substantially all of the assets (other than leasehold, easement and fee interests in real property) of SBA Senior Finance II and the Subsidiary Guarantors.
The Senior Credit Agreement permits SBA Senior Finance II, without the consent of the other lenders, to request that one or more lenders provide SBA Senior Finance II with increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans provided that after giving effect to the proposed increase in Revolving Credit Facility commitments or incremental term loans the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA would not exceed 6.5 times. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability to request such increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans is subject to its compliance with customary conditions set forth in the Senior Credit Agreement including compliance, on a pro forma basis, with the financial covenants and ratios set forth therein and, with respect to any additional term loan, an increase in the margin on existing term loans to the extent required by the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. Upon SBA Senior Finance II’s request, each lender may decide, in its sole discretion, whether to increase all or a portion of its Revolving Credit Facility commitment or whether to provide SBA Senior Finance II with additional term loans and, if so, upon what terms. As of December 31, 2024, SBA Senior Finance II was in compliance with the financial covenants contained in the Senior Credit Agreement.
Revolving Credit Facility under the Senior Credit Agreement
The Revolving Credit Facility consists of a revolving loan under which up to $2.0 billion aggregate principal amount may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, based upon specific financial ratios and subject to the satisfaction of other customary conditions to borrowing through the maturity date of January 25, 2029. Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility accrue interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either (1) the Eurodollar Rate or Term SOFR Rate plus a margin that ranges from 112.5 basis points to 150.0 basis points or (2) the Base Rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 50.0 basis points, in each case based on the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA, calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.15% and 0.25% per annum on the amount of unused commitment. Furthermore, the Revolving Credit Facility incorporates sustainability-linked targets which will adjust the Revolving Credit Facility’s applicable interest and commitment fee rates upward or downward based on how we perform against those targets. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be used for general corporate purposes. SBA Senior Finance II may, from time to time, borrow from and repay the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at the end of the period may not be reflective of the total amounts outstanding during such period.
The key terms of the Revolving Credit Facility are as follows:
| Unused | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate | Commitment | |||
| as of | Fee as of | |||
| December 31, 2024 (1) | December 31, 2024 (2) | |||
| Revolving Credit Facility | 5.407% | 0.140% |
(1)The rate reflected includes a 0.050% reduction in the applicable spread as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2023.
(2)The rate reflected includes a 0.010% reduction in the applicable commitment fee as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2023.
The table below summarizes our Revolving Credit Facility activity during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
| For the year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended December 31, | |||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||
| Beginning outstanding balance | $ | 180,000 | $ | 720,000 | |
| Borrowings | 370,000 | 190,000 | |||
| Repayments | (550,000) | (730,000) | |||
| Ending outstanding balance | $ | — | $ | 180,000 |
Subsequent to December 31, 2024, we made no borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.
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Term Loan under the Senior Credit Agreement
2024 Term Loan
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, issued a term loan (the “2024 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2024 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.3 billion that matures on January 25, 2031. The 2024 Term Loan (as amended on October 2, 2024) accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate (with a zero Base Rate floor) plus 75 basis points or at Term SOFR (with a floor of 0%) plus 175 basis points. The 2024 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. The proceeds from the 2024 Term Loan were used to retire our 2018 Term Loan and to pay related fees and expenses. The 2024 Term Loan has a blended rate of 2.428%, which includes the impact of the current interest rate swap. Excluding the impact of the interest rate swap, the 2024 Term Loan was accruing interest at 6.110% as of December 31, 2024.
Principal payments on the 2024 Term Loan are made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $5.75 million. We incurred financing fees of approximately $19.4 million in relation to this transaction, which are being amortized through the maturity date.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repaid an aggregate of $17.3 million of principal on the 2024 Term Loan. As of December 31, 2024, the 2024 Term Loan had a principal balance of $2.3 billion.
2018 Term Loan
The 2018 Term Loan consisted of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.4 billion that was set to mature on April 11, 2025. The 2018 Term Loan accrued interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate plus 75 basis points (with a zero Base Rate floor) or the Eurodollar Rate plus 175 basis points (with a zero Eurodollar Rate floor).
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, retired the 2018 Term Loan. In connection with the repayment, we expensed $3.3 million of net deferred financing fees and $1.2 million of original issuance discount related to the debt.
Interest Rate Swaps
On August 4, 2020, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into an interest rate swap which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through July 31, 2023.
On June 21, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, amended our existing interest rate swap agreement which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 185 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 1.900% per annum from August 1, 2023 through January 25, 2024 (the repayment date of the 2018 Term Loan and issuance date of the 2024 Term Loan). The swap remains in effect under the 2024 Term Loan (as amended on October 2, 2024) and swaps $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 1.800% per annum through March 31, 2025.
On November 3, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement which will swap $1.0 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 5.580% per annum. On September 6, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into an additional forward-starting interest rate swap agreement to swap $1.0 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 4.750% per annum (collectively the “forward-starting swaps”). The forward-starting swaps have an effective start date of March 31, 2025 (coinciding with the expiration date of the current $1.95 billion notional value swap) and a maturity date of April 11, 2028. The combined notional value of both forward-starting swaps of $2.0 billion will effectively fix one month term SOFR for a blended all-in fixed rate of 5.165% per annum through April 11, 2028.
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Secured Tower Revenue Securities
Tower Revenue Securities Terms
As of December 31, 2024, we, through a New York common law trust (the “Trust”), had issued and outstanding an aggregate of $8.4 billion of Secured Tower Revenue Securities (“Tower Securities”). The sole asset of the Trust consists of a non-recourse mortgage loan made in favor of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers on the mortgage loan (the “Borrowers”) under which there is a loan tranche for each Tower Security outstanding with the same interest rate and maturity date as the corresponding Tower Security. The mortgage loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from the aggregate 9,516 tower sites owned by the Borrowers as of December 31, 2024. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds to secure debt on a substantial portion of the tower sites, (2) a security interest in the tower sites and substantially all of the Borrowers’ personal property and fixtures, (3) the Borrowers’ rights under certain tenant leases, and (4) all of the proceeds of the foregoing. For each calendar month, SBA Network Management, Inc., an indirect subsidiary (“Network Management”), is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 4.5% of the Borrowers’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.
The Borrowers may prepay any of the mortgage loan components, in whole or in part, with no prepayment consideration, (1) within six months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2024-2C Tower Securities), twelve months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2019-1C Tower Securities, 2020-1C Tower Securities, 2021-1C Tower Securities, 2021-2C Tower Securities, and 2022-1C Tower Securities), eighteen months (in the case of the components corresponding to the 2020-2C Tower Securities and 2021-3C Tower Securities), or twenty-four months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2024-1C Tower Securities) of the anticipated repayment date of such mortgage loan component, (2) with proceeds received as a result of any condemnation or casualty of any tower owned by the Borrowers or (3) during an amortization period. In all other circumstances, the Borrowers may prepay the mortgage loan, in whole or in part, upon payment of the applicable prepayment consideration. The prepayment consideration is determined based on the class of the Tower Securities to which the prepaid mortgage loan component corresponds and consists of an amount equal to the net present value associated with the portion of the principal balance being prepaid and calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in the mortgage loan agreement.
To the extent that the mortgage loan components corresponding to the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the interest rate of each such component will increase by the greater of (1) 5% and (2) the amount, if any, by which the sum of (x) the 10 year U.S. treasury rate plus (y) the credit-based spread for such component (as set forth in the mortgage loan agreement) plus (z) 5%, exceeds the original interest rate for such component.
Pursuant to the terms of the Tower Securities, all rents and other sums due on any of the towers owned by the Borrowers are directly deposited by the lessees into a controlled deposit account and are held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee after the release date are classified as short-term restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 4). However, if the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, defined as the net cash flow (as defined in the mortgage loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers are required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30x or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowers unless the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.30x for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the Debt Service Coverage Ratio falls below 1.15x as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the mortgage loan until such time that the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.15x for a calendar quarter. In addition, if any of the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the cash flow from the towers owned by the Borrowers will be trapped by the trustee for the Tower Securities and applied first to repay the interest, at the original interest rates, on the mortgage loan components underlying the Tower Securities, second to fund all reserve accounts and operating expenses associated with those towers, third to pay the management fees due to Network Management, fourth to repay principal of the Tower Securities and fifth to repay the additional interest discussed above. Furthermore, the advance rents reserve requirement states that the Borrowers are required to maintain an advance rents reserve at any time the monthly tenant Debt Service Coverage Ratio is equal to or less than 2:1 and for two calendar months after such coverage ratio again exceeds 2:1. The mortgage loan agreement, as amended, also includes covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets.
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The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Tower Securities as of December 31, 2024:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1C Tower Securities (2) | Sep. 13, 2019 | $1,165.0 | 2.836% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $750.0 | 1.884% | Jan. 9, 2026 | Jul. 11, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $600.0 | 2.328% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $1,165.0 | 1.631% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 1.840% | Apr. 9, 2027 | Oct. 10, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 2.593% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $850.0 | 6.599% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2024-1C Tower Securities | Oct. 11, 2024 | $1,450.0 | 4.831% | Oct. 9, 2029 | Oct. 8, 2054 | |||||||||
| 2024-2C Tower Securities (3) | Oct. 11, 2024 | $620.0 | 4.654% | Oct. 8, 2027 | Oct. 8, 2054 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
(2)On January 15, 2025, we repaid the aggregate amount of the 2019-1C Tower Securities.
(3)The interest rate reflected is the all-in fixed rate which includes the impact of our treasury lock agreement entered on September 11, 2024. The treasury lock agreement fixed the three-year treasury rate at 3.3985% for $620.0 million of notional value related to the 2024-2C Tower Securities issued on October 11, 2024. Excluding the impact of the treasury lock agreement, the 2024-2C Tower Securities accrue interest at 5.115%.
Risk Retention Tower Securities
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Risk Retention Tower Securities as of December 31, 2024:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1R Tower Securities (2) | Sep. 13, 2019 | $61.4 | 4.213% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2R Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $71.1 | 4.336% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1R Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $61.4 | 3.598% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3R Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $94.3 | 4.090% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1R Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $44.8 | 7.870% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2024-1R Tower Securities | Oct. 11, 2024 | $108.7 | 6.252% | Oct. 9, 2029 | Oct. 8, 2054 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
(2)On January 15, 2025, we repaid the aggregate amount of the 2019-1R Tower Securities.
To satisfy certain risk retention requirements of Regulation RR promulgated under the Exchange Act, SBA Guarantor, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased the Risk Retention Tower Securities. Principal and interest payments made on the 2019-1R Tower Securities, 2020-2R Tower Securities, 2021-1R Tower Securities, 2021-3R Tower Securities, 2022-1R Tower Securities, and 2024-1R Tower Securities eliminate in consolidation.
Debt Covenants
As of December 31, 2024, the Borrowers met the debt service coverage ratio required by the mortgage loan agreement and were in compliance with all other covenants as set forth in the agreement.
Senior Notes
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding senior notes as of December 31, 2024:
| Senior Notes | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate Coupon | Maturity Date | Interest Due Dates | Optional Redemption Date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Senior Notes | Feb. 4, 2020 | $1,500.0 | 3.875% | Feb. 15, 2027 | Feb. 15 & Aug. 15 | Feb. 15, 2024 | ||||||
| 2021 Senior Notes | Jan. 29, 2021 | $1,500.0 | 3.125% | Feb. 1, 2029 | Feb. 1 & Aug. 1 | Feb. 1, 2024 |
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Each of our senior notes is subject to redemption, at our option, in whole or in part on or after the date set forth above. During the subsequent three twelve-month periods, the senior notes are redeemable, at our option, at reducing redemption prices based on the applicable interest rate coupon (as set forth in the indenture) plus accrued and unpaid interest. Subsequent to such date, the senior notes become redeemable until maturity at 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest. We may redeem each of the senior notes during the time periods and at the redemption prices set forth in the indentures.
Indentures Governing Senior Notes
The Indentures governing the Senior Notes contain customary covenants, subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including restrictions on the ability of SBAC and Telecommunications to (1) incur additional indebtedness unless the Consolidated Indebtedness to Annualized Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Ratio (as defined in the Indenture), pro forma for the additional indebtedness does not exceed, with respect to any fiscal quarter, 9.5x for SBAC, (2) merge, consolidate, or sell assets, (3) make restricted payments, including dividends or other distributions, (4) enter into transactions with affiliates, and (5) enter into sale and leaseback transactions and restrictions on the ability of the Restricted Subsidiaries of SBAC (as defined in the Indentures) to incur liens securing indebtedness.
Debt Service
As of December 31, 2024, we believe that our cash on hand, capacity available under our Revolving Credit Facility, and cash flows from operations for the next twelve months will be sufficient to service our outstanding debt during the next twelve months.
The following table illustrates our estimate of our debt service requirement over the next twelve months ended December 31, 2025 based on the amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and the interest rates accruing on those amounts on such date (in thousands):
| Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | 2,800 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Term Loan (2) | 127,290 | ||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities (3) | 1,166,297 | ||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | 14,368 | ||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | 14,159 | ||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | 19,371 | ||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | 16,752 | ||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | 23,491 | ||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | 56,362 | ||
| 2024-1C Tower Securities | 70,510 | ||
| 2024-2C Tower Securities | 29,052 | ||
| 2020 Senior Notes | 58,125 | ||
| 2021 Senior Notes | 46,875 | ||
| Total debt service for the next 12 months | $ | 1,645,452 |
(1)As of December 31, 2024, no amount was outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility. Subsequent to December 31, 2024, we made no borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.
(2)Total debt service on the 2024 Term Loan includes the impact of the interest rate swap which swaps $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 1.800% per annum through March 31, 2025 and the forward-starting interest rate swaps, which will swap $2.0 billion of notional value accruing interest at Term SOFR plus 175 basis points for a blended all-in fixed rate of 5.165% per annum beginning March 31, 2025 through April 11, 2028.
(3)On January 15, 2025, we repaid the full amount of the 2019-1C Tower Securities.
Inflation
The impact of inflation on our operations has not been material to date. However, the impact of higher interest rates, has impacted, and is expected to continue to impact, our growth rate and future operating results. Higher interest rates have impacted, and are expected to continue to impact, the ability and willingness of wireless service providers to incur capital expenditures at prior levels to expand their networks, which could adversely affect our future revenue growth rates. In addition, increased interest rates may adversely affect our costs to refinance our indebtedness at maturity. In addition, persistent high rates of inflation could adversely affect our future operating results particularly in light of the fact that our site leasing revenues are governed by long-term contracts with pre-
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determined pricing that we will not be able to increase in response to increases in inflation other than our contracts in South America and Africa which have inflationary index-based rent escalators.
FY 2023 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001034054-24-000002.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 97.4% of our total segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2023. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease space to wireless service providers and other customers on assets that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2023, we owned 39,618 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania. As of December 31, 2023, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, approximately 30% of our total towers are located in Brazil and no other international market (each country is considered a market) represented more than 5% of our total towers.
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We derive site leasing revenues from all the major carriers in each of the 15 countries in which we operate. Our tenant leases are either (1) individual tenant site leases by tower site or (2) governed by master lease agreements which provide for the material terms and conditions that will apply to multiple sites; although, in most cases, each individual site under a master lease agreement is also governed by its own site leasing agreement which sets forth pricing and other site specific terms. Our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to fifteen years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. Our tenant leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index, or (3) escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. In addition, our international site leases may include pass-through charges, such as rent related to ground leases and other property interests, utilities, property taxes, and fuel.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
•Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases, right-of-use, and other underlying property interests;
•Property taxes;
•Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
•Utilities;
•Property insurance;
•Fuel (in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
•Lease initial direct cost amortization.
Ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. Our ground leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators or (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 71% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
In Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Canada, Chile, South Africa, and the Philippines, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
| For the year ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | December 31, | ||||||||
| total operating profit | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||
| Domestic site leasing | 75.2% | 77.0% | 80.7% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 22.2% | 19.2% | 16.7% | ||||||
| Total site leasing | 97.4% | 96.2% | 97.4% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to a lease that is non-renewed, cancelled, or discounted prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of specific technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion, and network coverage requirements.
During 2024, we expect organic site leasing revenue in both our domestic and international segments to increase over 2023 levels due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum. We believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs, and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the relatively young age and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically
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positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
During 2020, the consolidation of T-Mobile and Sprint was completed, and we began to experience non-renewal of certain leases as a result of this merger. We currently expect that this churn will represent an aggregate of between $125.0 million and $150.0 million of cash site leasing revenue from 2024 through 2028. The aggregate churn estimate includes both overlapping and adjacent Sprint leases.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end-to-end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. While the addition of a cash dividend to our capital allocation strategy has provided us with an additional tool to return value to our shareholders, we continue to believe that our priority is to make investments focused on increasing Adjusted Funds From Operations per share. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions and the construction of new towers that meet our internal return on invested capital criteria.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy when we believe our share price is below its intrinsic value. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included herein. Our preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other
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assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.
Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report. There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies during the year ended December 31, 2023. We are in the process of reviewing the remaining estimated useful lives of our towers and intangible assets and are considering, for U.S. GAAP purposes, whether we should modify our current estimates for asset lives based on our historical operating experience. We have retained an independent consultant to assist in completing this review and analysis. We currently depreciate our towers on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the term of the underlying ground lease (including renewal options) taking into account residual value or the estimated useful life of the tower, which we have historically estimated to be 15 years. Additionally, certain of our intangible assets are amortized on a similar basis to our tower assets, as the estimated useful lives of such intangible assets correlate to the useful life of the towers. If we conclude that a revision in the estimated useful lives of our towers and intangible assets is appropriate based on our review and analysis, we will account for any changes in the useful lives as a change in accounting estimate under ASC 250 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections, which will be recorded prospectively beginning in the period of change. Based on preliminary information obtained to date, we expect that our estimated asset lives may be extended, which would result in prospective (i) decreases in depreciation and amortization and (ii) increases in the right of use asset and operating lease liability, and such changes could be material to future depreciation and amortization and our consolidated results of operations. We expect to conclude our analysis in the first quarter of 2024.
Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable
Site leasing revenues
Revenue from site leasing is recognized on a straight-line basis over the current term of the related lease agreements, which are generally five years to fifteen years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases are reflected in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from site leasing represents 93% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Site development revenues
Site development projects in which we perform consulting services include contracts on a fixed price basis that are billed at contractual rates. Revenue is recognized over time based on milestones achieved, which are determined based on costs incurred. Amounts billed in advance (collected or uncollected) are recorded as deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue from construction projects is recognized over time, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. Refer to Note 5 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.
The site development segment represents approximately 7% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023. We account for site development revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Payment terms do not result in any significant financing arrangements. Furthermore, these contracts do not typically include variable consideration; therefore, the transaction price that is recognized over time is generally the amount of the total contract.
Accounts receivable
The accounts receivable balance for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $182.7 million and $184.4 million, respectively, of which $32.3 million and $59.6 million related to the site development segment, respectively. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. In addition, we monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified, and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case by case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectibility is determined to be probable. Refer to Note 15 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of the site development segment.
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Lease Accounting
ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (“Topic 842”) requires all lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments. We have elected not to separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for all underlying classes of assets. In order to calculate our lease liability, we make certain assumptions related to lease term and discount rate. To determine the lease term, we consider all renewal periods that are reasonably certain to be exercised, taking into consideration all economic factors, including the communications site’s estimated economic life and the respective lease terms of our tenants under the existing lease arrangements on such site. For the discount rate, we use the rate implicit in the lease when available to discount lease payments to present value. However, our ground leases and other property interests generally do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. Therefore, we estimate the incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments based on the lease term and lease currency. We use publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating our incremental borrowing rates. Refer to Note 2 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further discussion on lease accounting.
Reference Rate Reform
On June 21, 2023, we amended our interest rate swap to change from LIBOR as an interest rate benchmark to the replacement benchmark of Term SOFR effective on August 1, 2023. We have elected the optional expedient which allows companies to change the reference rate and other critical terms related to the reference rate reform in derivative hedge documentation without having to de-designate the hedging relationship, allowing us to continue applying hedge accounting to our cash flow hedge. On July 3, 2023, we amended our 2018 Term Loan and our Revolving Credit Facility to use Term SOFR as the benchmark rate. The transition from LIBOR to Term SOFR did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. Refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below for further discussion of the 2018 Term Loan, Revolving Credit Facility, and the interest rate swap.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This report presents our financial results and other financial metrics on a GAAP basis and, with respect to our international and consolidated results, after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of realized and unrealized gains and losses on our intercompany loans.
Year Ended 2023 Compared to Year Ended 2022
Revenues and Segment Operating Profit:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,846,554 | $ | 1,777,593 | $ | — | $ | 68,961 | 3.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 670,381 | 558,982 | 1,978 | 109,421 | 19.6% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 194,649 | 296,879 | — | (102,230) | (34.4%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,711,584 | $ | 2,633,454 | $ | 1,978 | $ | 76,152 | 2.9% | ||||||
| Cost of Revenues | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 268,572 | $ | 264,149 | $ | — | $ | 4,423 | 1.7% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 204,115 | 181,536 | (129) | 22,708 | 12.5% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 139,935 | 222,965 | — | (83,030) | (37.2%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 612,622 | $ | 668,650 | $ | (129) | $ | (55,899) | (8.4%) | ||||||
| Operating Profit | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,577,982 | $ | 1,513,444 | $ | — | $ | 64,538 | 4.3% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 466,266 | 377,446 | 2,107 | 86,713 | 23.0% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 54,714 | 73,914 | — | (19,200) | (26.0%) |
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Revenues
Domestic site leasing revenues increased $69.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to (1) organic site leasing growth, primarily from monetary lease amendments (due in part to the new MLA with AT&T) for additional equipment added to our towers as well as new leases and contractual rent escalators and (2) revenues from 135 towers acquired and 22 towers built since January 1, 2022, partially offset by lease non-renewals.
International site leasing revenues increased $111.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing revenues increased $109.4 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) revenues from 3,301 towers acquired (including 2,632 sites from GTS in Brazil) and 779 towers built since January 1, 2022, (2) an increase in reimbursable pass-through expenses due primarily to increases in consumer price index escalators on our ground leases, and (3) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual escalators, partially offset by lease non-renewals. Site leasing revenue in Brazil represented 15.6% of total site leasing revenue for the period. No other individual international market represented more than 5% of our total site leasing revenue.
Site development revenues decreased $102.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, as a result of decreased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile and DISH Wireless, partially offset by an increase in activity from Verizon Wireless.
Operating Profit
Domestic site leasing segment operating profit increased $64.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to additional profit generated by (1) towers acquired and built since January 1, 2022, (2) organic site leasing growth as noted above, and (3) continued control of our site leasing cost of revenue.
International site leasing segment operating profit increased $88.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing segment operating profit increased $86.7 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) additional profit generated by towers acquired and built since January 1, 2022 and (2) organic site leasing growth as noted above.
Site development segment operating profit decreased $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, as a result of decreased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile and DISH Wireless, partially offset by an increase in activity from Verizon Wireless.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 121,782 | $ | 122,532 | $ | — | $ | (750) | (0.6%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 66,619 | 62,911 | (242) | 3,950 | 6.3% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 188,401 | $ | 185,443 | $ | (242) | $ | 3,200 | 1.7% | ||||||
| Site development | 21,316 | 22,911 | — | (1,595) | (7.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 58,219 | 53,499 | — | 4,720 | 8.8% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 267,936 | $ | 261,853 | $ | (242) | $ | 6,325 | 2.4% |
Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $6.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $6.3 million. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in personnel, and other support related costs and the $3.1 million Oi reserve recorded in 2023, partially offset by a decrease in non-cash compensation expense.
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Acquisition and New Business Initiatives Related Adjustments and Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 10,725 | $ | 13,280 | $ | — | $ | (2,555) | (19.2%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 10,946 | 13,527 | (141) | (2,440) | (18.0%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 21,671 | $ | 26,807 | $ | (141) | $ | (4,995) | (18.6%) |
Acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses decreased $5.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses decreased $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. These changes were primarily as a result of lower new business initiative activity and a decrease in our third party acquisition and integration costs as compared to the prior year.
Asset Impairment and Decommission Costs:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 138,699 | $ | 33,880 | $ | — | $ | 104,819 | 309.4% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 28,089 | 9,280 | 466 | 18,343 | 197.7% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 166,788 | $ | 43,160 | $ | 466 | $ | 123,162 | 285.4% | ||||||
| Site development | 372 | — | — | 372 | —% | ||||||||||
| Other | 2,227 | — | — | 2,227 | —% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 169,387 | $ | 43,160 | $ | 466 | $ | 125,761 | 291.4% |
Asset impairment and decommission costs increased $126.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, asset impairment and decommission costs increased $125.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in impairment charges resulting from the planned abandonment of identified sites with minimal expectations of future economic benefit (primarily from Sprint and Oi related churn), partially offset by a $45.1 million benefit from the reassessment of the lease terms. The reassessment resulted in an overall shortening of the lease term and a reduction to the lease liability and right-of-use asset. For further information regarding our asset impairment and decommission costs, see Note 3 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.
Depreciation, Accretion, and Amortization Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 457,169 | $ | 489,072 | $ | — | $ | (31,903) | (6.5%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 248,758 | 209,563 | 1,375 | 37,820 | 18.0% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 705,927 | $ | 698,635 | $ | 1,375 | $ | 5,917 | 0.8% | ||||||
| Site development | 3,704 | 2,521 | — | 1,183 | 46.9% | ||||||||||
| Other | 6,678 | 6,420 | — | 258 | 4.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 716,309 | $ | 707,576 | $ | 1,375 | $ | 7,358 | 1.0% |
Domestic site leasing depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $31.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period, partially offset by an increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2022.
International site leasing depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $39.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $37.8 million. These changes were primarily due to the increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2022, partially offset by the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period.
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Operating Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 849,607 | $ | 854,680 | $ | — | $ | (5,073) | (0.6%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 111,854 | 82,165 | 649 | 29,040 | 35.3% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 961,461 | $ | 936,845 | $ | 649 | $ | 23,967 | 2.6% | ||||||
| Site development | 29,322 | 48,482 | — | (19,160) | (39.5%) | ||||||||||
| Other | (67,124) | (59,919) | — | (7,205) | 12.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 923,659 | $ | 925,408 | $ | 649 | $ | (2,398) | (0.3%) |
Domestic site leasing operating income decreased $5.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to an increase in asset impairment and decommission costs, partially offset by higher segment operating profit and decreases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses.
International site leasing operating income increased $29.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing operating income increased $29.0 million. These changes were primarily due to higher segment operating profit and a decrease in acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, partially offset by increases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense, asset impairment and decommission costs, and selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Site development operating income decreased $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to lower segment operating profit driven by lower activity from T-Mobile and DISH Wireless and an increase in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense, partially offset by a decrease in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Other operating expense increased $7.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to increases in selling, general, and administrative expenses and asset impairment and decommission costs.
Other Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 18,305 | $ | 10,133 | $ | 66 | $ | 8,106 | 80.0% | ||||||
| Interest expense | (400,373) | (353,784) | 116 | (46,705) | 13.2% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | (35,868) | (46,109) | 1 | 10,240 | (22.2%) | ||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred financing fees | (20,273) | (19,835) | — | (438) | 2.2% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | — | (437) | — | 437 | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other income, net | 63,053 | 10,467 | 60,190 | (7,604) | 125.3% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | (375,156) | $ | (399,565) | $ | 60,373 | $ | (35,964) | 8.6% |
Interest income increased $8.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to interest received on a loan to an unconsolidated joint venture, a higher amount of interest-bearing deposits held, as well as higher effective interest rates on those deposits as compared to the prior year.
Interest expense increased $46.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to a higher weighted-average interest rate on our cash-interest bearing debt outstanding which remained flat year over year.
Non-cash interest expense decreased $10.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to lower amortization of accumulated losses related to our interest rate swaps de-designated as cash flow hedges which reached their term end date in 2023.
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Other income, net includes an $81.2 million gain on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries and a $7.6 million loss on the sale of tower assets for the year ended December 31, 2023, while the prior year period included a $20.3 million gain on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries.
Provision for Income Taxes:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | $ | (51,088) | $ | (66,044) | $ | (20,520) | $ | 35,476 | (59.4%) |
Provision for income taxes decreased $15.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, provision for income taxes decreased $35.5 million. These changes were primarily due to a decrease in deferred domestic taxes, partially offset by an increase in foreign current and deferred taxes.
Net Income:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 497,415 | $ | 459,799 | $ | 40,502 | $ | (2,886) | (0.6%) |
Net income increased $37.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates including changes recorded on the remeasurement of the U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries, decreases in provision for income taxes and non-cash interest expense and increases in operating income and interest income. This was partially offset by an increase in interest expense and a decrease in other income, net.
Year Ended 2022 Compared to Year Ended 2021
For a discussion of our 2022 Results of Operations, including a discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This report contains information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. We have provided below a description of Adjusted EBITDA, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure and an explanation as to why management utilizes this measure. This report also presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of non-cash straight-line leasing revenue, non-cash straight-line ground lease expense, non-cash compensation, net loss from extinguishment of debt, other income and expenses, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, interest income, interest expenses, depreciation, accretion, and amortization, and income taxes.
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors or other interested parties in evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by management (1) to evaluate the economic productivity of our operations and (2) for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to, and assessing the performance of, our operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA helps investors or other interested parties to meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations (1) from period to period and (2) to our competitors, by excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization, and accretion) from our financial results. Management also
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believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and the indentures relating to the 2020 Senior Notes and 2021 Senior Notes. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance.
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 497,415 | $ | 459,799 | $ | 40,502 | $ | (2,886) | (0.6%) | ||||||
| Non-cash straight-line leasing revenue | (25,206) | (38,675) | 360 | 13,109 | (33.9%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash straight-line ground lease expense | (686) | 2,653 | (81) | (3,258) | (122.8%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | 87,919 | 99,909 | (161) | (11,829) | (11.8%) | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | — | 437 | — | (437) | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Other income, net | (63,053) | (10,467) | (60,190) | 7,604 | (125.3%) | ||||||||||
| Acquisition and new business initiatives | |||||||||||||||
| related adjustments and expenses | 21,671 | 26,807 | (141) | (4,995) | (18.6%) | ||||||||||
| Asset impairment and decommission costs | 169,387 | 43,160 | 466 | 125,761 | 291.4% | ||||||||||
| Interest income | (18,305) | (10,133) | (66) | (8,106) | 80.0% | ||||||||||
| Interest expense (1) | 456,514 | 419,728 | (117) | 36,903 | 8.8% | ||||||||||
| Depreciation, accretion, and amortization | 716,309 | 707,576 | 1,375 | 7,358 | 1.0% | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes (2) | 51,885 | 68,183 | 20,524 | (36,822) | (59.5%) | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,893,850 | $ | 1,768,977 | $ | 2,471 | $ | 122,402 | 6.9% |
(1)Total interest expense includes interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees.
(2)Provision for income taxes includes $0.8 million and $2.1 million of franchise taxes for the year ended 2023 and 2022, respectively, reflected in selling, general, and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $124.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased $122.4 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in site leasing segment operating profit, partially offset by a decrease in site development segment operating profit and an increase in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
SBAC is a holding company with no business operations of its own. SBAC’s only significant asset is 100% of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, LLC (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly own all of our domestic and international towers and assets. We conduct all of our business operations through Telecommunications’ subsidiaries. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries.
A summary of our cash flows is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 1,544,393 | $ | 1,285,700 | ||
| Cash used in investing activities | (468,246) | (1,393,654) | ||||
| Cash used in financing activities | (1,017,218) | (135,474) | ||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | 58,929 | (243,428) | ||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equiv., and restricted cash | 2,734 | (2,915) | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year | 189,283 | 435,626 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year | $ | 250,946 | $ | 189,283 |
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Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $1.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $1.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was primarily due to an increase in cash inflows associated with working capital changes related to the timing of customer payments and increases in site leasing segment operating profit and interest income, partially offset by increases in cash interest expense, cash selling, general, and administrative expenses, and cash asset impairment and decommission costs as well as a decrease in site development segment operating profit.
Investing Activities
A detail of our cash capital expenditures is as follows:
| For the year ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | ||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Acquisitions of towers and related intangible assets (1)(2) | $ | (81,614) | $ | (489,888) | ||
| Acquisition of right-of-use assets (2) | (5,072) | (602,574) | ||||
| Land buyouts and other assets (3)(4) | (43,275) | (83,630) | ||||
| Construction and related costs | (98,128) | (103,461) | ||||
| Augmentation and tower upgrades | (82,493) | (60,656) | ||||
| Tower maintenance | (50,463) | (41,568) | ||||
| General corporate | (5,614) | (8,758) | ||||
| Other investing activities (5) | (101,587) | (3,119) | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (468,246) | $ | (1,393,654) |
(1)During the year ended December 31, 2022, we closed on 1,445 sites from Airtel Tanzania for $176.1 million.
(2)During the year ended December 31, 2022, we acquired 2,632 sites from GTS in Brazil for $728.2 million, net of working capital adjustments, of which $168.5 million is included in acquisitions of towers and related intangible assets and $559.8 million is included in acquisition of right of use assets.
(3)Excludes $17.6 million and $17.9 million spent to extend ground lease terms for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
(4)The year ended December 31, 2022 includes amounts paid related to the acquisition of a data center.
(5)The year ended December 31, 2023 includes $100.5 million of loan payments made to an unconsolidated joint venture.
Subsequent to December 31, 2023, we purchased or are under contract to purchase 281 communication sites for an aggregate consideration of $87.8 million in cash. We anticipate that these acquisitions will be consummated by the end of the third quarter of 2024.
For 2024, we expect to incur non-discretionary cash capital expenditures associated with tower maintenance and general corporate expenditures of $51.0 million to $61.0 million and discretionary cash capital expenditures, based on current or potential acquisition obligations, planned new tower construction, forecasted tower augmentations, and forecasted ground lease purchases, of $320.0 million to $340.0 million. We expect to fund these cash capital expenditures from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility or new financings. The exact amount of our future cash capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors, including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio, our new tower build and acquisition programs, and our ground lease purchase program.
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Financing Activities
A detail of our financing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Net (repayments) borrowings under Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | (540,000) | $ | 370,000 | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of Tower Securities, net of fees (1) | — | 839,885 | ||||
| Repayment of Tower Securities (1) | — | (640,000) | ||||
| Repurchase and retirement of common stock (2) | (100,010) | (431,666) | ||||
| Payment of dividends on common stock | (369,960) | (306,766) | ||||
| Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans, net of taxes | 16,715 | 28,345 | ||||
| Other financing activities | (23,963) | 4,728 | ||||
| Net cash used in financing activities | $ | (1,017,218) | $ | (135,474) |
(1)For additional information regarding our debt instruments and financings, refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below.
(2)As of the date of this filing, we had $404.7 million remaining under the current authorized share repurchase plan.
For a discussion of our Liquidity and Capital Resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023.
Dividend
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we paid the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | Cash Paid | Aggregate Amount | ||||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Paid | Date Paid | ||||
| February 20, 2023 | March 10, 2023 | $0.85 | $93.9 million | March 24, 2023 | ||||
| April 30, 2023 | May 26, 2023 | $0.85 | $92.1 million | June 21, 2023 | ||||
| July 30, 2023 | August 24, 2023 | $0.85 | $92.1 million | September 20, 2023 | ||||
| November 1, 2023 | November 16, 2023 | $0.85 | $91.8 million | December 14, 2023 |
Dividends paid in 2023 and 2022 were ordinary taxable dividends.
Subsequent to December 31, 2023, we declared the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | Cash to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | be Paid | |||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Date to be Paid | |||
| February 26, 2024 | March 14, 2024 | $0.98 | March 28, 2024 |
The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by our Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual amount, timing, and frequency of future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Registration Statements
We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or antenna sites and related assets or companies who own wireless communication towers, antenna sites, or related assets. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not issue any shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this registration statement.
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We have on file with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for well-known seasoned issuers on Form S-3ASR which enables us to issue shares of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or depositary shares as well as units that include any of these securities. We will file a prospectus supplement containing the amount and type of securities each time we issue securities under our automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR. No securities were issued under this registration statement through the date of this filing.
Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements
Terms of the Senior Credit Agreement
The Senior Credit Agreement requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days, and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any fiscal quarter. The Senior Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of SBA Senior Finance II and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness, grant certain liens, make certain investments, enter into sale leaseback transactions, merge or consolidate, make certain restricted payments, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in certain asset dispositions, including a sale of all or substantially all of their property. The Senior Credit Agreement is also subject to customary events of default. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Term Loans and certain hedging transactions that may be entered into by SBA Senior Finance II or the Subsidiary Guarantors (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement) with lenders or their affiliates are secured by a first lien on the membership interests of SBA Telecommunications, LLC, SBA Senior Finance, LLC and SBA Senior Finance II and on substantially all of the assets (other than leasehold, easement and fee interests in real property) of SBA Senior Finance II and the Subsidiary Guarantors.
The Senior Credit Agreement permits SBA Senior Finance II, without the consent of the other lenders, to request that one or more lenders provide SBA Senior Finance II with increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans provided that after giving effect to the proposed increase in Revolving Credit Facility commitments or incremental term loans the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA would not exceed 6.5 times. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability to request such increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans is subject to its compliance with customary conditions set forth in the Senior Credit Agreement including compliance, on a pro forma basis, with the financial covenants and ratios set forth therein and, with respect to any additional term loan, an increase in the margin on existing term loans to the extent required by the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. Upon SBA Senior Finance II’s request, each lender may decide, in its sole discretion, whether to increase all or a portion of its Revolving Credit Facility commitment or whether to provide SBA Senior Finance II with additional term loans and, if so, upon what terms. As of December 31, 2023, SBA Senior Finance II was in compliance with the financial covenants contained in the Senior Credit Agreement.
On July 3, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, amended our 2018 Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility to replace LIBOR with Term SOFR as the benchmark interest rate and make related changes.
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary SBA Senior Finance II, amended and restated our Senior Credit Agreement to (1) issue a new $2.3 billion Term Loan, (2) increase the total commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion, (3) extend the maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility to January 25, 2029, and (4) amend certain other terms and conditions under the Senior Credit Agreement. The proceeds from the 2024 Term Loan were used to retire our 2018 Term Loan and to pay related fees and expenses.
On February 23, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, further increased the total commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility from $1.75 billion to $2.0 billion.
Revolving Credit Facility under the Senior Credit Agreement
The Revolving Credit Facility consists of a revolving loan under which up to $1.5 billion ($2.0 billion as amended February 23, 2024) aggregate principal amount may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, based upon specific financial ratios and subject to the satisfaction of other customary conditions to borrowing through the maturity date of July 7, 2026 (January 25, 2029 as amended). Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility accrue interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either (1) the Eurodollar Rate (or Term SOFR as amended July 3, 2023) plus a margin that ranges from 112.5 basis points to 150.0 basis points or (2) the Base Rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 50.0 basis points, in each case based on the ratio of Consolidated
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Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA, calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.15% and 0.25% per annum on the amount of unused commitment. Furthermore, the Revolving Credit Facility incorporates sustainability-linked targets which will adjust the Revolving Credit Facility’s applicable interest and commitment fee rates upward or downward based on how the Company performs against those targets. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be used for general corporate purposes. SBA Senior Finance II may, from time to time, borrow from and repay the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at the end of the period may not be reflective of the total amounts outstanding during such period.
The key terms of the Revolving Credit Facility are as follows:
| Unused | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate | Commitment | |||
| as of | Fee as of | |||
| December 31, 2023 (1) | December 31, 2023 (2) | |||
| Revolving Credit Facility | 6.435% | 0.140% |
(1)The rate reflected includes a 0.050% reduction in the applicable spread as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2022.
(2)The rate reflected includes a 0.010% reduction in the applicable commitment fee as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2022.
The table below summarizes the Revolving Credit Facility’s activity during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):
| For the year | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended December 31, | ||||||
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||
| Beginning outstanding balance | $ | 720,000 | $ | 350,000 | ||
| Borrowings | 190,000 | 975,000 | ||||
| Repayments | (730,000) | (605,000) | ||||
| Ending outstanding balance | $ | 180,000 | $ | 720,000 |
Subsequent to December 31, 2023, we repaid $110.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $70.0 million was outstanding.
Term Loan under the Senior Credit Agreement
2018 Term Loan
On April 11, 2018, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, issued a term loan (the “2018 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2018 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.4 billion that matures on April 11, 2025. The 2018 Term Loan accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate plus 75 basis points (with a zero Base Rate floor) or the Eurodollar Rate plus 175 basis points (with a zero Eurodollar Rate floor). The 2018 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. As of December 31, 2023, the 2018 Term Loan was accruing interest at 7.210% per annum. On July 3, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, amended our 2018 Term Loan to replace LIBOR with Term SOFR as the benchmark interest rate. The amendment to Term SOFR includes a CSA of 0.10% which we include as part of interest expense. On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, retired the 2018 Term Loan using the proceeds from the issuance of the 2024 Term Loan.
Principal payments on the 2018 Term Loan were made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $6.0 million. We incurred financing fees of approximately $16.8 million in relation to this transaction, which were being amortized through the maturity date.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repaid an aggregate of $24.0 million of principal on the 2018 Term Loan. As of December 31, 2023, the 2018 Term Loan had a principal balance of $2.3 billion.
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2024 Term Loan
On January 25, 2024, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, issued a term loan (the “2024 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2024 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.3 billion that matures on January 25, 2031. The 2024 Term Loan accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate plus 100 basis points (with a zero Base Rate floor) or at Term SOFR plus 200 basis points (with a floor of 0%). The 2024 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. The proceeds from the 2024 Term Loan were used to retire our 2018 Term Loan and to pay related fees and expenses.
Principal payments on the 2024 Term Loan will be made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $5.75 million beginning on June 30, 2024. We incurred financing fees of approximately $19.5 million in relation to this transaction, which are being amortized through the maturity date.
Interest Rate Swaps
On August 4, 2020, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into an interest rate swap which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through July 31, 2023.
On June 21, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, amended our interest rate swap agreement which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 185 basis points (inclusive of a CSA of 0.10%) for an all-in fixed rate of 1.900% from August 1, 2023 through January 25, 2024 (the repayment date of the 2018 Term Loan and issuance date of the 2024 Term Loan). The swap will remain in effect under the 2024 Term Loan and will swap $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 200 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 2.050% per annum through March 31, 2025. We concluded that the amendment to the interest rate swap qualifies for the relief provided by ASU 2021-01 and ASU 2022-06 and as such, have not de-designated our cash flow hedge.
On November 3, 2023, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement which will swap $1.0 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month Term SOFR plus 200 basis points for an all-in fixed rate of 5.830% per annum. The swap has an effective start date of March 31, 2025 and a maturity date of April 11, 2028.
Secured Tower Revenue Securities
Tower Revenue Securities Terms
As of December 31, 2023, we, through a New York common law trust (the “Trust”), had issued and outstanding an aggregate of $6.9 billion of Secured Tower Revenue Securities (“Tower Securities”). The sole asset of the Trust consists of a non-recourse mortgage loan made in favor of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers on the mortgage loan (the “Borrowers”) under which there is a loan tranche for each Tower Security outstanding with the same interest rate and maturity date as the corresponding Tower Security. The mortgage loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from the aggregate 9,892 tower sites owned by the Borrowers as of December 31, 2023. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds to secure debt on a substantial portion of the tower sites, (2) a security interest in the tower sites and substantially all of the Borrowers’ personal property and fixtures, (3) the Borrowers’ rights under certain tenant leases, and (4) all of the proceeds of the foregoing. For each calendar month, SBA Network Management, Inc., an indirect subsidiary (“Network Management”), is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 4.5% of the Borrowers’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.
The Borrowers may prepay any of the mortgage loan components, in whole or in part, with no prepayment consideration, (1) within twelve months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2019-1C Tower Securities, 2020-1C Tower Securities, 2021-1C Tower Securities, 2021-2C Tower Securities, and 2022-1C Tower Securities) or eighteen months (in the case of the components corresponding to the 2014-2C Tower Securities, 2020-2C Tower Securities, and 2021-3C Tower Securities) of the anticipated repayment date of such mortgage loan component, (2) with proceeds received as a result of any condemnation or casualty of any tower owned by the Borrowers or (3) during an amortization period. In all other circumstances, the Borrowers may prepay the mortgage loan, in whole or in part, upon payment of the applicable prepayment consideration. The prepayment consideration is determined based on the class of the Tower Securities to which the prepaid mortgage loan component corresponds and consists of an amount equal to the net present value associated with the portion of the principal balance being prepaid and calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in the mortgage loan agreement.
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To the extent that the mortgage loan components corresponding to the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the interest rate of each such component will increase by the greater of (1) 5% and (2) the amount, if any, by which the sum of (x) the 10 year U.S. treasury rate plus (y) the credit-based spread for such component (as set forth in the mortgage loan agreement) plus (z) 5%, exceeds the original interest rate for such component.
Pursuant to the terms of the Tower Securities, all rents and other sums due on any of the towers owned by the Borrowers are directly deposited by the lessees into a controlled deposit account and are held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee after the release date are classified as short-term restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 4). However, if the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, defined as the net cash flow (as defined in the mortgage loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers are required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30x or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowers unless the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.30x for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the Debt Service Coverage Ratio falls below 1.15x as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the mortgage loan until such time that the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.15x for a calendar quarter. In addition, if any of the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the cash flow from the towers owned by the Borrowers will be trapped by the trustee for the Tower Securities and applied first to repay the interest, at the original interest rates, on the mortgage loan components underlying the Tower Securities, second to fund all reserve accounts and operating expenses associated with those towers, third to pay the management fees due to Network Management, fourth to repay principal of the Tower Securities and fifth to repay the additional interest discussed above. Furthermore, the advance rents reserve requirement states that the Borrowers are required to maintain an advance rents reserve at any time the monthly tenant Debt Service Coverage Ratio is equal to or less than 2:1 and for two calendar months after such coverage ratio again exceeds 2:1. The mortgage loan agreement, as amended, also includes covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets.
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Tower Securities as of December 31, 2023:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 15, 2014 | $620.0 | 3.869% | Oct. 8, 2024 | Oct. 8, 2049 | |||||||||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $1,165.0 | 2.836% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $750.0 | 1.884% | Jan. 9, 2026 | Jul. 11, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $600.0 | 2.328% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $1,165.0 | 1.631% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 1.840% | Apr. 9, 2027 | Oct. 10, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 2.593% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $850.0 | 6.599% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
Risk Retention Tower Securities
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Risk Retention Tower Securities as of December 31, 2023:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1R Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $61.4 | 4.213% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2R Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $71.1 | 4.336% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1R Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $61.4 | 3.598% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3R Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $94.3 | 4.090% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1R Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $44.8 | 7.870% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 |
(1)Interest paid monthly.
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To satisfy certain risk retention requirements of Regulation RR promulgated under the Exchange Act, SBA Guarantor, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased the Risk Retention Tower Securities. Principal and interest payments made on the 2019-1R Tower Securities, 2020-2R Tower Securities, 2021-1R Tower Securities, 2021-3R Tower Securities, and 2022-1R Tower Securities eliminate in consolidation.
Debt Covenants
As of December 31, 2023, the Borrowers met the debt service coverage ratio required by the mortgage loan agreement and were in compliance with all other covenants as set forth in the agreement.
Senior Notes
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding senior notes as of December 31, 2023:
| Senior Notes | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate Coupon | Maturity Date | Interest Due Dates | Optional Redemption Date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Senior Notes | Feb. 4, 2020 | $1,500.0 | 3.875% | Feb. 15, 2027 | Feb. 15 & Aug. 15 | Feb. 15, 2023 | ||||||
| 2021 Senior Notes | Jan. 29, 2021 | $1,500.0 | 3.125% | Feb. 1, 2029 | Feb. 1 & Aug. 1 | Feb. 1, 2024 |
Each of our senior notes is subject to redemption, at our option, in whole or in part on or after the date set forth above. During the subsequent three twelve-month periods, the senior notes are redeemable, at our option, at reducing redemption prices based on the applicable interest rate coupon (as set forth in the indenture) plus accrued and unpaid interest. Subsequent to such date, the senior notes become redeemable until maturity at 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest.
Indentures Governing Senior Notes
The Indentures governing the Senior Notes contain customary covenants, subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including restrictions on the ability of SBAC and Telecommunications to (1) incur additional indebtedness unless the Consolidated Indebtedness to Annualized Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Ratio (as defined in the Indenture), pro forma for the additional indebtedness does not exceed, with respect to any fiscal quarter, 9.5x for SBAC, (2) merge, consolidate, or sell assets, (3) make restricted payments, including dividends or other distributions, (4) enter into transactions with affiliates, and (5) enter into sale and leaseback transactions and restrictions on the ability of the Restricted Subsidiaries of SBAC (as defined in the Indentures) to incur liens securing indebtedness.
Debt Service
As of December 31, 2023, we believe that our cash on hand, capacity available under our Revolving Credit Facility, and cash flows from operations for the next twelve months will be sufficient to service our outstanding debt during the next twelve months.
The following table illustrates our estimate of our debt service requirement for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 based on the amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and the interest rates accruing on those amounts on such date (in thousands):
| Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | 13,431 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Term Loan (2)(3) | 83,978 | ||
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | 639,078 | ||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | 33,409 | ||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | 14,368 | ||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | 14,159 | ||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | 19,371 | ||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | 16,752 | ||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | 23,491 | ||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | 56,362 | ||
| 2020 Senior Notes | 58,125 | ||
| 2021 Senior Notes | 46,875 | ||
| Total debt service for the next 12 months (4) | $ | 1,019,399 |
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(1)As of December 31, 2023, $180.0 million was outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, we repaid $110.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $70.0 million was outstanding.
(2)Total debt service on the 2018 Term Loan includes the impact of the interest rate swaps amended on June 21, 2023, which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at Term SOFR plus 185 basis points (inclusive of a CSA of 0.10%) for an all-in fixed rate of 1.900% per annum from August 1, 2023 through March 31, 2025.
(3)On January 25, 2024, we repaid in full the 2018 Term Loan with proceeds from the 2024 Term Loan.
(4)Our total debt service does not include any amounts for the 2024 Term Loan. Total debt service for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 related to the 2024 Term Loan is projected to be $78.8 million, which reflects interest from January 25, 2024 (the issuance date of the 2024 Term Loan) and three quarterly installment payments.
Inflation
The impact of inflation on our operations has not been material to date. However, the impact of rising interest rates, due to actions by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation, has impacted, and is expected to continue to impact, our growth rate and future operating results. Increasing interest rates has impacted, and is expected to continue to impact, the ability and willingness of wireless service providers to incur capital expenditures at prior levels to expand their networks, which could adversely affect our future revenue growth rates. In addition, increased interest rates may adversely affect our costs to refinance our indebtedness at maturity. In addition, persistent high rates of inflation could adversely affect our future operating results particularly in light of the fact that our site leasing revenues are governed by long-term contracts with pre-determined pricing that we will not be able to increase in response to increases in inflation other than our contracts in South America, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania which have inflationary index based rent escalators.
FY 2022 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001034054-23-000002.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 96.2% of our total segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2022. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease space to wireless service providers and other customers on assets that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2022, we owned 39,311 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
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Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania. As of December 31, 2022, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, approximately 30% of our total towers are located in Brazil and no other international market (each country is considered a market) represented more than 5% of our total towers.
We derive site leasing revenues from all the major carriers in each of the 16 countries in which we operate. Our tenant leases are either individual leases by tower site or governed by master lease agreements, which provide for the material terms and conditions that will govern the terms of the use of the site. Our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to 15 years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. Our tenant leases either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators, (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index, or (3) escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. In addition, our international site leases may include pass-through charges, such as rent related to ground leases and other property interests, utilities, property taxes, and fuel.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
•Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases, right-of-use, and other underlying property interests;
•Property taxes;
•Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
•Utilities;
•Property insurance;
•Fuel (in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
•Lease initial direct cost amortization.
Ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. Our ground leases typically either (1) contain specific annual rent escalators or (2) escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 70% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
In Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our new build activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Canada, Chile, South Africa, and the Philippines, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
| For the year ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | December 31, | ||||||||
| total operating profit | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||
| Domestic site leasing | 77.0% | 80.7% | 81.0% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 19.2% | 16.7% | 17.4% | ||||||
| Total site leasing | 96.2% | 97.4% | 98.4% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to when a customer does not renew its lease or cancels its lease prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of specific technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion, and network coverage requirements.
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During 2023, we expect organic site leasing revenue in both our domestic and international segments to increase over 2022 levels due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum. We believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs, and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the relatively young age and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
During 2020, the consolidation of T-Mobile and Sprint was completed, and we began to experience non-renewal of certain leases as a result of this merger. We currently expect that this churn will represent an aggregate of between $140.0 million and $190.0 million of cash site leasing revenue through 2028. The aggregate churn estimate includes both overlapping and adjacent Sprint leases.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end-to-end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. While the addition of a cash dividend to our capital allocation strategy has provided us with an additional tool to return value to our shareholders, we continue to believe that our priority is to make investments focused on increasing Adjusted Funds From Operations per share. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions and the construction of new towers that meet our internal return on invested capital criteria.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy when we believe our share price is below its intrinsic value. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our
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business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, included herein. Our preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.
Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable
Site leasing revenues
Revenue from site leasing is recognized on a straight-line basis over the current term of the related lease agreements, which are generally five years to 15 years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases are reflected in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from site leasing represents 89% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Site development revenues
Site development projects in which we perform consulting services include contracts on a fixed price basis that are billed at contractual rates. Revenue is recognized over time based on milestones achieved, which are determined based on costs incurred. Amounts billed in advance (collected or uncollected) are recorded as deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue from construction projects is recognized over time, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. Refer to Note 5 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.
The site development segment represents approximately 11% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022. We account for site development revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Payment terms do not result in any significant financing arrangements. Furthermore, these contracts do not typically include variable consideration; therefore, the transaction price that is recognized over time is generally the amount of the total contract.
Accounts receivable
The accounts receivable balance for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $184.4 million and $102.0 million, respectively, of which $59.6 million and $24.6 million related to the site development segment, respectively. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. In addition, we monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified, and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case by case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectibility is determined to be probable. Refer to Note 15 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of the site development segment.
Lease Accounting
ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (“Topic 842”) requires all lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments. We have elected not to separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for all underlying classes of assets. In order to calculate our lease liability, we make certain assumptions related to lease term and discount rate. In making the determination of the period for which we are reasonably certain to remain on the site, we will assume optional renewals are reasonably certain of being exercised for the greater of: (1) a period sufficient to cover all tenants under their current committed term where we have provided rights to the tower not to exceed the contractual ground lease terms including renewals and (2) a period sufficient to recover the investment of significant leasehold improvements located on the site. For the discount rate, we use the rate implicit in the lease when available to discount lease payments to present value. However, our ground leases and other property interests generally do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. Therefore, we estimate the
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incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments based on the lease term and lease currency. We use publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating our incremental borrowing rates. Refer to Note 2 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further discussion on lease accounting.
Reference Rate Reform
ASU 2020-04, ASU 2021-01, and ASU 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform, provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2024, except for hedging relationships existing as of December 31, 2024, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship. An entity may elect to apply the amendments prospectively through December 31, 2024. The IBA ceased the publication of USD LIBOR for the 1 week and 2 month tenors on December 31, 2021 and will cease all other tenors on June 30, 2023. On July 7, 2021, we amended our Revolving Credit Facility to provide mechanics relating to a transition away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate and the replacement of LIBOR by an alternative benchmark rate. Refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below for further discussion of the Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2022, we have not modified any other contracts as a result of reference rate reform and are evaluating the impact this standard may have on our consolidated financial statements.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This report presents our financial results and other financial metrics on a GAAP basis and, with respect to our international and consolidated results, after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of realized and unrealized gains and losses on our intercompany loans.
Year Ended 2022 Compared to Year Ended 2021
Revenues and Segment Operating Profit:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,777,593 | $ | 1,681,372 | $ | — | $ | 96,221 | 5.7% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 558,982 | 422,715 | 4,432 | 131,835 | 31.2% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 296,879 | 204,747 | — | 92,132 | 45.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,633,454 | $ | 2,308,834 | $ | 4,432 | $ | 320,188 | 13.9% | ||||||
| Cost of Revenues | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 264,149 | $ | 258,612 | $ | — | $ | 5,537 | 2.1% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 181,536 | 127,779 | 880 | 52,877 | 41.4% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 222,965 | 159,093 | — | 63,872 | 40.1% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 668,650 | $ | 545,484 | $ | 880 | $ | 122,286 | 22.4% | ||||||
| Operating Profit | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,513,444 | $ | 1,422,760 | $ | — | $ | 90,684 | 6.4% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 377,446 | 294,936 | 3,552 | 78,958 | 26.8% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 73,914 | 45,654 | — | 28,260 | 61.9% |
Revenues
Domestic site leasing revenues increased $96.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to (1) organic site leasing growth, primarily from monetary lease amendments for additional equipment added to our towers as well as new leases and contractual rent escalators and (2) revenues from 873 towers acquired (including wireless tenant
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licenses on 719 utility transmission structures from the PG&E transaction) and 19 towers built since January 1, 2021, partially offset by lease non-renewals.
International site leasing revenues increased $136.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing revenues increased $131.8 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) revenues from 4,908 towers acquired (including 1,445 towers from Airtel Tanzania and 2,632 sites from GTS in Brazil) and 777 towers built since January 1, 2021, (2) an increase in reimbursable pass-through expenses due primarily to increases in Tanzania fuel and energy pass-through costs and consumer price index escalators on our ground leases, and (3) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual escalators, partially offset by lease non-renewals. Site leasing revenue in Brazil represented 12.8% of total site leasing revenue for the period. No other individual international market represented more than 5% of our total site leasing revenue.
Site development revenues increased $92.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and DISH Wireless.
Operating Profit
Domestic site leasing segment operating profit increased $90.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to additional profit generated by (1) towers acquired and built since January 1, 2021 and organic site leasing growth as noted above, (2) continued control of our site leasing cost of revenue, and (3) the positive impact of our ground lease purchase program.
International site leasing segment operating profit increased $82.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing segment operating profit increased $79.0 million. These changes were primarily due to additional profit generated by (1) towers acquired and built since January 1, 2021 and organic site leasing growth as noted above and (2) the positive impact of our ground lease purchase program, partially offset by our increased site leasing cost of revenues largely as a result of our new site additions and expansion into new markets.
Site development segment operating profit increased $28.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and DISH Wireless.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 102,619 | $ | 115,458 | $ | — | $ | (12,839) | (11.1%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 62,911 | 37,768 | (712) | 25,855 | 68.5% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 165,530 | $ | 153,226 | $ | (712) | $ | 13,016 | 8.5% | ||||||
| Site development | 22,911 | 20,636 | — | 2,275 | 11.0% | ||||||||||
| Other | 73,412 | 46,167 | — | 27,245 | 59.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 261,853 | $ | 220,029 | $ | (712) | $ | 42,536 | 19.3% |
Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $41.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $42.5 million. These changes were primarily as a result of increases in non-cash compensation, personnel, and other support related costs due in part to our entry into new markets.
The decrease in Domestic site leasing (which has been allocated to International site leasing and Other selling, general, and administrative expenses) was primarily due to changes in our internal cost allocations.
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Asset Impairment and Decommission Costs:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 33,880 | $ | 20,135 | $ | — | $ | 13,745 | 68.3% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 9,280 | 12,763 | (184) | (3,299) | (25.8%) | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 43,160 | $ | 32,898 | $ | (184) | $ | 10,446 | 31.8% | ||||||
| Other | — | 146 | — | (146) | (100.0%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 43,160 | $ | 33,044 | $ | (184) | $ | 10,300 | 31.2% |
Asset impairment and decommission costs increased $10.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, asset impairment and decommission costs increased $10.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in impairment charges resulting from our regular analysis of whether the future cash flows from certain towers are adequate to recover the carrying value of the investment in those towers due in part to increased churn from Sprint.
Depreciation, Accretion, and Amortization Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 489,072 | $ | 514,234 | $ | — | $ | (25,162) | (4.9%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 209,563 | 177,059 | 1,810 | 30,694 | 17.3% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 698,635 | $ | 691,293 | $ | 1,810 | $ | 5,532 | 0.8% | ||||||
| Site development | 2,521 | 2,295 | — | 226 | 9.8% | ||||||||||
| Other | 6,420 | 6,573 | — | (153) | (2.3%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 707,576 | $ | 700,161 | $ | 1,810 | $ | 5,605 | 0.8% |
Domestic site leasing depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $25.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. These changes were primarily due to the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period, partially offset by an increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2021.
International site leasing depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $32.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense increased $30.7 million. These changes were primarily due to the increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2021, partially offset by the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period.
Operating Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 874,593 | $ | 758,481 | $ | — | $ | 116,112 | 15.3% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 82,165 | 54,177 | 2,581 | 25,407 | 46.9% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 956,758 | $ | 812,658 | $ | 2,581 | $ | 141,519 | 17.4% | ||||||
| Site development | 48,482 | 22,723 | — | 25,759 | 113.4% | ||||||||||
| Other | (79,832) | (52,886) | — | (26,946) | 51.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 925,408 | $ | 782,495 | $ | 2,581 | $ | 140,332 | 17.9% |
Domestic site leasing operating income increased $116.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher segment operating profit, decreases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and selling, general, and administrative expenses, partially offset by an increase in asset impairment and decommission costs.
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International site leasing operating income increased $28.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing operating income increased $25.4 million. These changes were primarily due to higher segment operating profit and a decrease in asset impairment and decommission costs, partially offset by increases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Site development operating income increased $25.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher segment operating profit driven by more activity from T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and DISH Wireless, partially offset by an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Other Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 10,133 | $ | 3,448 | $ | 126 | $ | 6,559 | 190.2% | ||||||
| Interest expense | (353,784) | (352,919) | (27) | (838) | 0.2% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | (46,109) | (47,085) | — | 976 | (2.1%) | ||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred financing fees | (19,835) | (19,589) | — | (246) | 1.3% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | (437) | (39,502) | — | 39,065 | (98.9%) | ||||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | 10,467 | (74,284) | 84,088 | 663 | (9.6%) | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | (399,565) | $ | (529,931) | $ | 84,187 | $ | 46,179 | (10.0%) |
Interest income increased $6.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to a higher amount of interest-bearing deposits held as well as higher effective interest rates on those deposits as compared to the prior year.
Interest expense increased $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to a higher average principal amount of cash interest bearing debt outstanding. Based on the current rising interest rate environment, we expect interest expense will increase in future periods.
Loss from extinguishment of debt was $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 representing the write-off of $0.4 million of the unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2018-1C Tower Securities in December 2022. Loss from extinguishment of debt was $39.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 representing the payment of a $13.4 million call premium and the write-off of $10.3 million of the unamortized financing fees related to the redemption of the 2016 Senior Notes in November 2021, the payment of a $7.5 million call premium and the write-off of $4.2 million of the unamortized financing fees related to the redemption of the 2017 Senior Notes in February 2021, the write-off of $2.0 million of unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2017-1C Tower Securities in May 2021, and the write-off of $2.0 million of unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2013-2C Tower Securities in October 2021.
Other income (expense), net includes a $20.3 million gain on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2022, while the prior year period included a $66.3 million loss.
Provision for Income Taxes:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | $ | (66,044) | $ | (14,940) | $ | (33,311) | $ | (17,793) | 47.8% |
Provision for income taxes increased $51.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, provision for income taxes increased $17.8 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in deferred foreign taxes and current state and foreign withholding taxes.
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Net Income:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 459,799 | $ | 237,624 | $ | 53,457 | $ | 168,718 | 59.7% |
Net income increased $222.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, net income increased $168.7 million. This change was primarily due to an increase in operating income, a decrease in loss from the extinguishment of debt, and an increase in interest income. This was partially offset by an increase in provision for income taxes.
Year Ended 2021 Compared to Year Ended 2020
For a discussion of our 2021 Results of Operations, including a discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This report contains information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. We have provided below a description of Adjusted EBITDA, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure and an explanation as to why management utilizes this measure. This report also presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of non-cash straight-line leasing revenue, non-cash straight-line ground lease expense, non-cash compensation, net loss from extinguishment of debt, other income and expenses, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, interest income, interest expenses, depreciation, accretion, and amortization, and income taxes.
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors or other interested parties in evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by management (1) to evaluate the economic productivity of our operations and (2) for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to, and assessing the performance of, our operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA helps investors or other interested parties to meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations (1) from period to period and (2) to our competitors, by excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization, and accretion) from our financial results. Management also believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and the indentures relating to the 2020 Senior Notes and 2021 Senior Notes. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance.
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| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 459,799 | $ | 237,624 | $ | 53,457 | $ | 168,718 | 59.7% | ||||||
| Non-cash straight-line leasing revenue | (38,675) | (30,117) | 206 | (8,764) | 29.1% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash straight-line ground lease expense | 2,653 | 7,766 | (89) | (5,024) | (64.7%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | 99,909 | 84,402 | (313) | 15,820 | 18.7% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | 437 | 39,502 | — | (39,065) | (98.9%) | ||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (10,467) | 74,284 | (84,088) | (663) | 9.6% | ||||||||||
| Acquisition and new business initiatives | |||||||||||||||
| related adjustments and expenses | 26,807 | 27,621 | 57 | (871) | (3.2%) | ||||||||||
| Asset impairment and decommission costs | 43,160 | 33,044 | (184) | 10,300 | 31.2% | ||||||||||
| Interest income | (10,133) | (3,448) | (126) | (6,559) | 190.2% | ||||||||||
| Interest expense (1) | 419,728 | 419,593 | 27 | 108 | 0.0% | ||||||||||
| Depreciation, accretion, and amortization | 707,576 | 700,161 | 1,810 | 5,605 | 0.8% | ||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes (2) | 68,183 | 15,847 | 33,317 | 19,019 | 49.9% | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,768,977 | $ | 1,606,279 | $ | 4,074 | $ | 158,624 | 9.9% |
(1)Total interest expense includes interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees.
(2)Provision for income taxes includes $2,139 and $907 of franchise taxes for the year ended 2022 and 2021, respectively, reflected in selling, general, and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $162.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased $158.6 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in segment operating profit, partially offset by an increase in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
SBAC is a holding company with no business operations of its own. SBAC’s only significant asset is 100% of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, LLC (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly own all of our domestic and international towers and assets. We conduct all of our business operations through Telecommunications’ subsidiaries. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries.
A summary of our cash flows is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 1,285,700 | $ | 1,189,896 | ||
| Cash used in investing activities | (1,393,654) | (1,423,260) | ||||
| Cash (used in) provided by financing activities | (135,474) | 339,264 | ||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | (243,428) | 105,900 | ||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equiv., and restricted cash | (2,915) | (13,082) | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year | 435,626 | 342,808 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year | $ | 189,283 | $ | 435,626 |
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $1.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $1.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in operating profit, partially offset by an increase in cash outflows associated with working capital changes.
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Investing Activities
A detail of our cash capital expenditures is as follows:
| For the year ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Acquisitions of towers and related intangible assets (1)(2)(3) | $ | (489,888) | $ | (274,752) | ||
| Acquisition of right-of-use assets (2)(4) | (602,574) | (950,536) | ||||
| Land buyouts and other assets (5)(6) | (83,630) | (32,416) | ||||
| Construction and related costs | (103,461) | (61,202) | ||||
| Augmentation and tower upgrades | (60,656) | (33,103) | ||||
| Tower maintenance | (41,568) | (34,541) | ||||
| General corporate | (8,758) | (4,848) | ||||
| Other investing activities | (3,119) | (31,862) | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (1,393,654) | $ | (1,423,260) |
(1)During the year ended December 31, 2022, we closed on 1,445 sites from Airtel Tanzania for $176.1 million. Legal title has been fully transferred for 1,295 of the towers. The remaining 150 towers are pending post-closing due diligence and continue to be accounted for as acquired and other right-of-use assets, net on the Consolidated Balance Sheets until transfer of title for these towers is completed, which we anticipate to be in tranches through the end of the second quarter of 2023. Upon legal transfer, these assets will be reclassified to tower related assets. During this period of time, we have all the economic rights and obligations related to these towers.
(2)During the year ended December 31, 2022, we acquired 2,632 sites from GTS in Brazil for $728.2 million, net of working capital adjustments, of which $168.5 million is included in acquisitions of towers and related intangible assets and $559.8 million is included in acquisition of right of use assets.
(3)The year ended December 31, 2021 includes $77.1 million of acquisitions completed during the fourth quarter of 2020 which were not funded until the first quarter of 2021.
(4)During the year ended December 31, 2021, we acquired the exclusive right to lease and operate utility transmission structures, which included existing wireless tenant licenses from PG&E for $950.5 million, net of working capital adjustments.
(5)Excludes $17.9 million and $16.3 million spent to extend ground lease terms for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
(6)The year ended December 31, 2022 includes amounts paid related to the acquisition of a data center.
Subsequent to December 31, 2022, we purchased or are under contract to purchase 31 communication sites for an aggregate consideration of $23.2 million in cash. We anticipate that these acquisitions will be consummated by the end of the second quarter of 2023.
For 2023, we expect to incur non-discretionary cash capital expenditures associated with tower maintenance and general corporate expenditures of $53.0 million to $63.0 million and discretionary cash capital expenditures, based on current or potential acquisition obligations, planned new tower construction, forecasted tower augmentations, and forecasted ground lease purchases, of $283.0 million to $303.0 million. We expect to fund these cash capital expenditures from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility or new financings. The exact amount of our future cash capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors, including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio, our new tower build and acquisition programs, and our ground lease purchase program.
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Financing Activities
A detail of our financing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Net borrowings (repayments) under Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | 370,000 | $ | (30,000) | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of Senior Notes, net of fees (1) | — | 1,485,373 | ||||
| Repayment of Senior Notes (1) | — | (1,870,909) | ||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Tower Securities, net of fees (1) | 839,885 | 2,924,005 | ||||
| Repayment of Tower Securities (1) | (640,000) | (1,335,000) | ||||
| Repurchase and retirement of common stock (2) | (431,666) | (582,578) | ||||
| Payment of dividends on common stock | (306,766) | (253,580) | ||||
| Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans, net of taxes | 28,345 | 14,784 | ||||
| Other financing activities | 4,728 | (12,831) | ||||
| Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | $ | (135,474) | $ | 339,264 |
(1)For additional information regarding our debt instruments and financings, refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below.
(2)As of the date of this filing, we had $504.7 million remaining under the current authorized share repurchase plan.
For a discussion of our Liquidity and Capital Resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022.
Dividend
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we paid the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | Cash Paid | Aggregate Amount | ||||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Paid | Date Paid | ||||
| February 27, 2022 | March 10, 2022 | $0.71 | $76.9 million | March 25, 2022 | ||||
| April 24, 2022 | May 19, 2022 | $0.71 | $76.6 million | June 14, 2022 | ||||
| July 31, 2022 | August 25, 2022 | $0.71 | $76.7 million | September 20, 2022 | ||||
| October 30, 2022 | November 17, 2022 | $0.71 | $76.7 million | December 15, 2022 |
Dividends paid in 2022 and 2021 were ordinary taxable dividends.
Subsequent to December 31, 2022, we declared the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | Cash to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | be Paid | |||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Date to be Paid | |||
| February 20, 2023 | March 10, 2023 | $0.85 | March 24, 2023 |
The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by our Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual amount, timing, and frequency of future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Registration Statements
We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or antenna sites and related assets or
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companies who own wireless communication towers, antenna sites, or related assets. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we did not issue any shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement. As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this registration statement.
We have on file with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for well-known seasoned issuers on Form S-3ASR which enables us to issue shares of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or depositary shares as well as units that include any of these securities. We will file a prospectus supplement containing the amount and type of securities each time we issue securities under our automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR. No securities were issued under this registration statement through the date of this filing.
Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements
Terms of the Senior Credit Agreement
On July 7, 2021, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, amended our Revolving Credit Facility to (1) increase the total commitments under the Facility from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, (2) extend the maturity date of the Facility to July 7, 2026, (3) lower the applicable interest rate margins and commitment fees under the Facility, (4) provide mechanics relating to a transition away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate and the replacement of LIBOR by an alternative benchmark rate, (5) incorporate sustainability-linked targets which will adjust the Facility’s applicable interest and commitment fee rates upward or downward based on how we perform against those targets, and (6) amend certain other terms and conditions under the Senior Credit Agreement.
The Senior Credit Agreement, as amended, requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days, and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any fiscal quarter. The Senior Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of SBA Senior Finance II and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness, grant certain liens, make certain investments, enter into sale leaseback transactions, merge or consolidate, make certain restricted payments, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in certain asset dispositions, including a sale of all or substantially all of their property. The Senior Credit Agreement is also subject to customary events of default. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Term Loans and certain hedging transactions that may be entered into by SBA Senior Finance II or the Subsidiary Guarantors (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement) with lenders or their affiliates are secured by a first lien on the membership interests of SBA Telecommunications, LLC, SBA Senior Finance, LLC and SBA Senior Finance II and on substantially all of the assets (other than leasehold, easement and fee interests in real property) of SBA Senior Finance II and the Subsidiary Guarantors.
The Senior Credit Agreement, as amended, permits SBA Senior Finance II, without the consent of the other lenders, to request that one or more lenders provide SBA Senior Finance II with increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans provided that after giving effect to the proposed increase in Revolving Credit Facility commitments or incremental term loans the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA would not exceed 6.5 times. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability to request such increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans is subject to its compliance with customary conditions set forth in the Senior Credit Agreement including compliance, on a pro forma basis, with the financial covenants and ratios set forth therein and, with respect to any additional term loan, an increase in the margin on existing term loans to the extent required by the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. Upon SBA Senior Finance II’s request, each lender may decide, in its sole discretion, whether to increase all or a portion of its Revolving Credit Facility commitment or whether to provide SBA Senior Finance II with additional term loans and, if so, upon what terms.
Revolving Credit Facility under the Senior Credit Agreement
The Revolving Credit Facility consists of a revolving loan under which up to $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, based upon specific financial ratios and subject to the satisfaction of other customary conditions to borrowing. Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility accrue interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either (1) the Eurodollar Rate plus a margin that ranges from 112.5 basis points to 150.0 basis points or (2) the Base Rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 50.0 basis points, in each case based on the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA, calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.15% and 0.25% per annum on the amount of unused commitment. Borrowings under the Revolving
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Credit Facility may be used for general corporate purposes. SBA Senior Finance II may, from time to time, borrow from and repay the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at the end of the period may not be reflective of the total amounts outstanding during such period.
The key terms of the Revolving Credit Facility are as follows:
| Unused | Financial Covenant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest Rate | Commitment | Compliance | ||||
| as of | Fee as of | Status as of | ||||
| December 31, 2022 (1) | December 31, 2022 (2) | December 31, 2022 | ||||
| Revolving Credit Facility | 5.610% | 0.140% | In Compliance |
(1)The rate reflected includes a 0.050% reduction in the applicable spread as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2021.
(2)The rate reflected includes a 0.010% reduction in the applicable commitment fee as a result of meeting certain sustainability-linked targets as of December 31, 2021.
The table below summarizes the Revolving Credit Facility’s activity during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
| For the year | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||
| Beginning outstanding balance | $ | 350,000 | $ | 380,000 | ||
| Borrowings | 975,000 | 1,935,000 | ||||
| Repayments | (605,000) | (1,965,000) | ||||
| Ending outstanding balance | $ | 720,000 | $ | 350,000 |
Subsequent to December 31, 2022, we borrowed an additional $15.0 million and repaid $165.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $570.0 million was outstanding.
Term Loan under the Senior Credit Agreement
2018 Term Loan
On April 11, 2018, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, obtained a term loan (the “2018 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2018 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.4 billion that matures on April 11, 2025. The 2018 Term Loan accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either the Base Rate plus 75 basis points (with a zero Base Rate floor) or the Eurodollar Rate plus 175 basis points (with a zero Eurodollar Rate floor). The 2018 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. As of December 31, 2022, the 2018 Term Loan was accruing interest at 6.140% per annum. Principal payments on the 2018 Term Loan are made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $6.0 million. We incurred financing fees of approximately $16.8 million in relation to this transaction, which are being amortized through the maturity date.
During the year ended December 31, 2022, we repaid an aggregate of $24.0 million of principal on the 2018 Term Loan. As of December 31, 2022, the 2018 Term Loan had a principal balance of $2.3 billion.
On August 4, 2020, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into an interest rate swap for $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for a fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through the maturity date of the 2018 Term Loan.
The IBA ceased the publication of USD LIBOR for the 1 week and 2 month tenors on December 31, 2021 and intends to cease all other tenors on June 30, 2023. Since LIBOR will be ceasing, we will need to amend our credit facility to transition the 2018 Term Loan and the interest rate swap to an alternative benchmark rate before June 30, 2023.
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Secured Tower Revenue Securities
Tower Revenue Securities Terms
As of December 31, 2022, we, through the Trust, had issued and outstanding an aggregate of $6.9 billion of Secured Tower Revenue Securities (“Tower Securities”). The sole asset of the Trust consists of a non-recourse mortgage loan made in favor of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers on the mortgage loan (the “Borrowers”) under which there is a loan tranche for each Tower Security outstanding with the same interest rate and maturity date as the corresponding Tower Security. The mortgage loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from the aggregate 9,896 tower sites owned by the Borrowers as of December 31, 2022. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds to secure debt on a substantial portion of the tower sites, (2) a security interest in the tower sites and substantially all of the Borrowers’ personal property and fixtures, (3) the Borrowers’ rights under certain tenant leases, and (4) all of the proceeds of the foregoing. For each calendar month, SBA Network Management, Inc., an indirect subsidiary (“Network Management”), is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 4.5% of the Borrowers’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.
The Borrowers may prepay any of the mortgage loan components, in whole or in part, with no prepayment consideration, (1) within twelve months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2019-1C Tower Securities, 2020-1C Tower Securities, 2021-1C Tower Securities, 2021-2C Tower Securities, and 2022-1C Tower Securities) or eighteen months (in the case of the components corresponding to the 2014-2C Tower Securities, 2020-2C Tower Securities, and 2021-3C Tower Securities) of the anticipated repayment date of such mortgage loan component, (2) with proceeds received as a result of any condemnation or casualty of any tower owned by the Borrowers or (3) during an amortization period. In all other circumstances, the Borrowers may prepay the mortgage loan, in whole or in part, upon payment of the applicable prepayment consideration. The prepayment consideration is determined based on the class of the Tower Securities to which the prepaid mortgage loan component corresponds and consists of an amount equal to the net present value associated with the portion of the principal balance being prepaid and calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in the mortgage loan agreement.
To the extent that the mortgage loan components corresponding to the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the interest rate of each such component will increase by the greater of (1) 5% and (2) the amount, if any, by which the sum of (x) the 10 year U.S. treasury rate plus (y) the credit-based spread for such component (as set forth in the mortgage loan agreement) plus (z) 5%, exceeds the original interest rate for such component.
Pursuant to the terms of the Tower Securities, all rents and other sums due on any of the towers owned by the Borrowers are directly deposited by the lessees into a controlled deposit account and are held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee after the release date are classified as short-term restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 4). However, if the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, defined as the net cash flow (as defined in the mortgage loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers are required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30x or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowers unless the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.30x for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the Debt Service Coverage Ratio falls below 1.15x as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the mortgage loan until such time that the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.15x for a calendar quarter. In addition, if any of the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the cash flow from the towers owned by the Borrowers will be trapped by the trustee for the Tower Securities and applied first to repay the interest, at the original interest rates, on the mortgage loan components underlying the Tower Securities, second to fund all reserve accounts and operating expenses associated with those towers, third to pay the management fees due to Network Management, fourth to repay principal of the Tower Securities and fifth to repay the additional interest discussed above. Furthermore, the advance rents reserve requirement states that the Borrowers are required to maintain an advance rents reserve at any time the monthly tenant Debt Service Coverage Ratio is equal to or less than 2:1 and for two calendar months after such coverage ratio again exceeds 2:1. The mortgage loan agreement, as amended, also includes covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets.
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The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Tower Securities as of December 31, 2022:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 15, 2014 | $620.0 | 3.869% | Oct. 8, 2024 | Oct. 8, 2049 | |||||||||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $1,165.0 | 2.836% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $750.0 | 1.884% | Jan. 9, 2026 | Jul. 11, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $600.0 | 2.328% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $1,165.0 | 1.631% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 1.840% | Apr. 9, 2027 | Oct. 10, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 | 2.593% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $850.0 | 6.599% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 |
(1)Interest payable monthly.
Risk Retention Tower Securities
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Risk Retention Tower Securities as of December 31, 2022:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate (1) | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-1R Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $61.4 | 4.213% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2R Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $71.1 | 4.336% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1R Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $61.4 | 3.598% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3R Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $94.3 | 4.090% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 | |||||||||
| 2022-1R Tower Securities | Nov. 23, 2022 | $44.8 | 7.870% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Nov. 9, 2052 |
(1)Interest payable monthly.
To satisfy certain risk retention requirements of Regulation RR promulgated under the Exchange Act, SBA Guarantor, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased the Risk Retention Tower Securities. Principal and interest payments made on the 2019-1R Tower Securities, 2020-2R Tower Securities, 2021-1R Tower Securities, 2021-3R Tower Securities, and 2022-1R Tower Securities eliminate in consolidation.
Debt Covenants
As of December 31, 2022, the Borrowers met the debt service coverage ratio required by the mortgage loan agreement and were in compliance with all other covenants as set forth in the agreement.
Senior Notes
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding senior notes as of December 31, 2022:
| Senior Notes | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding (in millions) | Interest Rate Coupon | Maturity Date | Interest Due Dates | Optional Redemption Date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Senior Notes | Feb. 4, 2020 | $1,500.0 | 3.875% | Feb. 15, 2027 | Feb. 15 & Aug. 15 | Feb. 15, 2023 | ||||||
| 2021 Senior Notes | Jan. 29, 2021 | $1,500.0 | 3.125% | Feb. 1, 2029 | Feb. 1 & Aug. 1 | Feb. 1, 2024 |
Each of our senior notes is subject to redemption, at our option, in whole or in part on or after the date set forth above. During the subsequent three twelve-month periods, the senior notes are redeemable, at our option, at reducing redemption prices based on the applicable interest rate coupon (as set forth in the indenture) plus accrued and unpaid interest. Subsequent to such date, the senior notes become redeemable until maturity at 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest. In addition, prior to February 15, 2023 (in the case of the 2020 Senior Notes) and February 1, 2024 (in the case of the 2021 Senior Notes), we may, at our option, use the net proceeds of certain equity offerings to redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes originally issued at a redemption price of 103.875% (in the case of the 2020 Senior Notes) and 103.125% (in the case of the 2021 Senior Notes) plus accrued and unpaid interest.
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Indentures Governing Senior Notes
The Indentures governing the Senior Notes contain customary covenants, subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including restrictions on the ability of SBAC and Telecommunications to (1) incur additional indebtedness unless the Consolidated Indebtedness to Annualized Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Ratio (as defined in the Indenture), pro forma for the additional indebtedness does not exceed, with respect to any fiscal quarter, 9.5x for SBAC, (2) merge, consolidate, or sell assets, (3) make restricted payments, including dividends or other distributions, (4) enter into transactions with affiliates, and (5) enter into sale and leaseback transactions and restrictions on the ability of the Restricted Subsidiaries of SBAC (as defined in the Indentures) to incur liens securing indebtedness.
Debt Service
As of December 31, 2022, we believe that our cash on hand, capacity available under our Revolving Credit Facility, and cash flows from operations for the next twelve months will be sufficient to service our outstanding debt during the next twelve months.
The following table illustrates our estimate of our debt service requirement over the next twelve months ended December 31, 2023 based on the amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and the interest rates accruing on those amounts on such date (in thousands):
| Revolving Credit Facility | $ | 41,482 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Term Loan (1) | 81,540 | ||
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | 24,185 | ||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | 33,409 | ||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | 14,368 | ||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | 14,159 | ||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | 19,371 | ||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | 16,752 | ||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | 23,491 | ||
| 2022-1C Tower Securities | 56,362 | ||
| 2020 Senior Notes | 58,125 | ||
| 2021 Senior Notes | 46,875 | ||
| Total debt service for the next 12 months | $ | 430,119 |
(1)Total debt service on the 2018 Term Loan includes the impact of the interest rate swap entered into on August 4, 2020 which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for a fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through the maturity date of the 2018 Term Loan.
Inflation
The impact of inflation on our operations has not been significant to date. However, to the extent the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates to combat inflation, this may impact our operating results. We cannot assure you that a high rate of inflation in the future will not adversely affect our operating results particularly in light of the fact that our site leasing revenues are governed by long-term contracts with pre-determined pricing that we will not be able to increase in response to increases in inflation other than our contracts in South America, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania which have inflationary index based rent escalators.
FY 2021 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001034054-22-000002.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed below. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A. Risk Factors.
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We are a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure, including tower structures, rooftops, and other structures that support antennas used for wireless communications, which we collectively refer to as “towers” or “sites.” Our principal operations are in the United States and its territories. In addition, we own and operate towers in South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines and, effective January 4, 2022, Tanzania. Our primary business line is our site leasing business, which contributed 97.4% of our total segment operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2021. In our site leasing business, we (1) lease antenna space to wireless service providers on towers that we own or operate and (2) manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2021, we owned 34,177 towers, a substantial portion of which have been built by us or built by other tower owners or operators who, like us, have built such towers to lease space to multiple wireless service providers. In addition, on January 4, 2022, we closed on 1,445 towers under our previously announced deal in Tanzania. Our other business line is our site development business, through which we assist wireless service providers in developing and maintaining their own wireless service networks.
Site Leasing
Our primary focus is the leasing of antenna space on our multi-tenant towers to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts in the United States, South America, Central America, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines and, effective January 4, 2022, Tanzania. As of December 31, 2021, no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total tower portfolio by tower count, and no U.S. state or territory accounted for more than 10% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021. In addition, as of December 31, 2021, approximately 30% of our total towers are located in Brazil and no other international markets (each country is considered a market) represented more than 4% of our total towers. We derive site leasing revenues primarily from wireless service provider tenants, including T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Oi S.A., Telefonica, Claro, Tigo, TIM, and DISH Wireless. Wireless service providers enter into tenant leases with us, each of which relates to the lease or use of space at an individual site.
In the United States and our international markets, our tenant leases are generally for an initial term of five years to 15 years with multiple renewal periods at the option of the tenant. In Canada and in our Central American markets, tenant leases typically contain specific rent escalators, which average 3-4% per year, including the renewal option periods. In our South American markets, South Africa, and the Philippines, tenant leases typically escalate annually in accordance with an inflationary index. In Tanzania, tenant leases typically escalate using a combination of fixed and inflation adjusted escalators. Site leases in our South American markets typically provide for a fixed rental amount and a pass through charge for the underlying rent related to ground leases and other property interests. In South Africa, our site leases contain pass through charges related to utilities and, in Tanzania, our site leases include components related to utilities and fuel. The utility and fuel portion of our Tanzanian site leases adjust periodically in accordance with changes in diesel fuel and electricity prices. In certain markets such as Brazil, tenant leases are typically governed by master lease agreements, which provide for the material terms and conditions that will govern the terms of the use of the site.
Cost of site leasing revenue primarily consists of:
•Cash and non-cash rental expense on ground leases and other underlying property interests;
•Property taxes;
•Site maintenance and monitoring costs (exclusive of employee related costs);
•Utilities;
•Property insurance;
•Fuel (in those international markets that do not have an available electric grid at our tower sites); and
•Lease initial direct cost amortization.
In the United States and our international markets, ground leases and other property interests are generally for an initial term of five years or more with multiple renewal periods, which are at our option. In our Central American markets, Canada, and the Philippines, ground leases and other property interests provide for fixed rent escalators which typically average 2-3% annually, and in our South American markets and South Africa, ground leases adjust in accordance with an inflationary index. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 72% of our tower structures were located on parcels of land that we own, land subject to perpetual easements, or parcels of land in which we have a leasehold interest that extends beyond 20 years. For any given tower, costs are relatively fixed over a monthly or an annual time period. As such, operating costs for owned towers do not generally increase as a result of adding additional customers to the tower. The amount of property taxes varies from site to site depending on the taxing jurisdiction and the height and age of the tower. The ongoing maintenance requirements are typically minimal and include replacing lighting systems, painting a tower, or upgrading or repairing an access road or fencing.
In our Central American markets and Ecuador, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures arising from our new build activities are denominated in U.S. dollars. Specifically, most of our ground leases and other property interests, tenant leases, and tower-related expenses are paid in U.S. dollars. In our Central American markets, our local currency obligations are principally limited to (1) permitting and other local fees, (2) utilities, and (3) taxes. In Brazil, Canada, Chile, South Africa, and the
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Philippines, significantly all of our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in local currency. In Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Tanzania, our revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, including tenant leases, ground leases and other property interests, and other tower-related expenses are denominated in a mix of local currency and U.S. dollars.
As indicated in the table below, our site leasing business generates substantially all of our total segment operating profit. For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
| For the year ended | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment operating profit as a percentage of | December 31, | ||||||||
| total operating profit | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||
| Domestic site leasing | 80.7% | 81.0% | 80.7% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 16.7% | 17.4% | 17.0% | ||||||
| Total site leasing | 97.4% | 98.4% | 97.7% |
We believe that the site leasing business continues to be attractive due to its long-term contracts, built-in rent escalators, high operating margins, and low customer churn (which refers to when a customer does not renew its lease or cancels its lease prior to the end of its term) other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessation of a particular technology. We believe that over the long-term, site leasing revenues will continue to grow as wireless service providers lease additional antenna space on our towers due to increasing minutes of network use and data transfer, network expansion and network coverage requirements.
During 2022, we expect organic site leasing revenue in both our domestic and international segments to increase over 2021 levels due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum. We believe our site leasing business is characterized by stable and long-term recurring revenues, predictable operating costs and minimal non-discretionary capital expenditures. Due to the relatively young age and mix of our tower portfolio, we expect future expenditures required to maintain these towers to be minimal. Consequently, we expect to grow our cash flows by (1) adding tenants to our towers at minimal incremental costs by using existing tower capacity or requiring wireless service providers to bear all or a portion of the cost of tower modifications and (2) executing monetary amendments as wireless service providers add or upgrade their equipment. Furthermore, because our towers are strategically positioned, we have historically experienced low tenant lease terminations as a percentage of revenue other than in connection with customer consolidation or cessations of a specific technology.
During 2020, the consolidation of T-Mobile and Sprint was completed, and we began to experience non-renewal of certain leases as a result of this merger. We currently expect that this churn will represent an aggregate of between $140.0 million and $190.0 million of cash site leasing revenue over the next six years. The aggregate churn estimate includes both overlapping and adjacent Sprint leases.
Site Development
Our site development business, which is conducted in the United States only, is complementary to our site leasing business and provides us the ability to keep in close contact with the wireless service providers who generate substantially all of our site leasing revenue and to capture ancillary revenues that are generated by our site leasing activities, such as antenna and equipment installation at our tower locations. Site development revenues are earned primarily from providing a full range of end to end services to wireless service providers or companies providing development or project management services to wireless service providers. Our services include: (1) network pre-design; (2) site audits; (3) identification of potential locations for towers and antennas on existing infrastructure; (4) support in leasing of the location; (5) assistance in obtaining zoning approvals and permits; (6) tower and related site construction; (7) antenna installation; and (8) radio equipment installation, commissioning, and maintenance. We provide site development services at our towers and at towers owned by others on a local basis, through regional, market, and project offices. The market offices are responsible for all site development operations.
For information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 of our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report.
Capital Allocation Strategy
Our capital allocation strategy is aimed at increasing shareholder value through investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value, and by returning cash generated by our operations in the form of cash dividends. While the addition of a cash dividend to our capital allocation strategy in 2019 has provided us with a new tool to return value to our shareholders, we will also continue to make investments focused on increasing Adjusted
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Funds From Operations per share. To achieve this, we expect to continue to deploy capital to portfolio growth and stock repurchases, subject to compliance with REIT distribution requirements, available funds and market conditions, while maintaining our target leverage levels. Key elements of our capital allocation strategy include:
Portfolio Growth. We intend to continue to grow our asset portfolio, domestically and internationally, primarily through tower acquisitions and the construction of new towers that meet our internal return on invested capital criteria.
Stock Repurchase Program. We currently utilize stock repurchases as part of our capital allocation policy when we believe our share price is below its intrinsic value. We believe that share repurchases, when purchased at the right price, will facilitate our goal of increasing our Adjusted Funds From Operations per share.
Dividend. Cash dividends are an additional component of our strategy of returning value to shareholders. We do not expect our dividend to require any changes in our leverage and believe that, due to our low dividend payout ratio, we can continue to focus on building and buying quality assets and opportunistically buying back our stock. While the timing and amount of future dividends will be subject to approval by our Board of Directors, we believe that our future cash flow generation will permit us to grow our cash dividend in the future.
COVID-19 Update
We have experienced minimal impact to our business or results of operations from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The extent to which COVID-19 could adversely affect our future business operations will depend on future developments such as the duration of the outbreak, new information on the severity of COVID-19 or its variants, and methods taken to contain or treat the outbreak of COVID-19 including a vaccine distribution program. While the full impact of COVID-19 is not yet known, we will continue to monitor these developments and the potential effects on our business.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies and significant estimation processes below as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. The listing is not intended to be a comprehensive list. In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, with no need for management’s judgment in their application. In other cases, management is required to exercise judgment in the application of accounting principles with respect to particular transactions. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” where such policies affect reported and expected financial results. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 2 of our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, included herein. Our preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates and such differences could be significant.
Revenue Recognition and Accounts Receivable
Site leasing revenues
Revenue from site leasing is recognized on a straight-line basis over the current term of the related lease agreements, which are generally five years to 10 years. Receivables recorded related to the straight-lining of site leases are reflected in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Rental amounts received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Revenue from site leasing represents 91% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Site development revenues
Site development projects in which we perform consulting services include contracts on a fixed price basis that are billed at contractual rates. Revenue is recognized over time based on milestones achieved, which are determined based on costs incurred. Amounts billed in advance (collected or uncollected) are recorded as deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Revenue from construction projects is recognized over time, determined by the percentage of cost incurred to date compared to management’s estimated total cost for each contract. This method is used because management considers total cost to be the best
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available measure of progress on the contracts. These amounts are based on estimates, and the uncertainty inherent in the estimates initially is reduced as work on the contracts nears completion. Refer to Note 5 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined to be probable.
The site development segment represents approximately 9% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021. We account for site development revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Payment terms do not result in any significant financing arrangements. Furthermore, these contracts do not typically include variable consideration; therefore, the transaction price that is recognized over time is generally the amount of the total contract.
Accounts receivable
The accounts receivable balance for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $102.0 million and $74.1 million, respectively, of which $24.6 and $14.3 million related to the site development segment, respectively. We perform periodic credit evaluations of our customers. In addition, we monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience, specific customer collection issues identified, and past due balances as determined based on contractual terms. Interest is charged on outstanding receivables from customers on a case by case basis in accordance with the terms of the respective contracts or agreements with those customers. Amounts determined to be uncollectible are written off against the allowance for doubtful accounts in the period in which uncollectibility is determined to be probable. Refer to Note 15 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further detail of the site development segment.
Lease Accounting
We adopted ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (“Topic 842”) using the modified retrospective adoption method with an effective date of January 1, 2019. This standard requires all lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments. The adoption of the new lease standard had a significant impact on our Consolidated Balance Sheets but did not have a significant impact on our lease classification or a material impact on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and liquidity. Additionally, the adoption of Topic 842 did not have a material impact on our debt covenant compliance under our current agreements. We have elected to not separate nonlease components from the associated lease component for all underlying classes of assets.
In order to calculate our lease liability, we make certain assumptions related to lease term and discount rate. In making the determination of the period for which we are reasonably certain to remain on the site, we will assume optional renewals are reasonably certain of being exercised for the greater of: (1) a period sufficient to cover all tenants under their current committed term where we have provided rights to the tower not to exceed the contractual ground lease terms including renewals and (2) a period sufficient to recover the investment of significant leasehold improvements located on the site. For the discount rate, we use the rate implicit in the lease when available to discount lease payments to present value. However, our ground leases and other property interests generally do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. Therefore, we estimate the incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments based on the lease term and lease currency. We use publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics when calculating our incremental borrowing rates. Refer to Note 2 in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report for further discussion on lease accounting.
Reference Rate Reform
ASU 2020-04 and ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform, provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. The amendments apply only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022, except for hedging relationships existing as of December 31, 2022, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship. An entity may elect to apply the amendments prospectively through December 31, 2022. The ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (“IBA”) ceased the publication of USD LIBOR for the 1 week and 2 month tenors on December 31, 2021 and will cease all other tenors on June 30, 2023. On July 7, 2021, we amended our Credit Facility to provide mechanics relating to a transition away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate and the replacement of LIBOR by an alternative benchmark rate. Refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below for further discussion of the Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2021, we have not modified any other contracts as a result of reference rate reform and are evaluating the impact this standard may have on our consolidated financial statements.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This report presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of realized and unrealized gains and losses on our intercompany loans.
Year Ended 2021 Compared to Year Ended 2020
Revenues and Segment Operating Profit:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,681,372 | $ | 1,558,311 | $ | — | $ | 123,061 | 7.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 422,715 | 396,161 | (8,016) | 34,570 | 8.7% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 204,747 | 128,666 | — | 76,081 | 59.1% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 2,308,834 | $ | 2,083,138 | $ | (8,016) | $ | 233,712 | 11.2% | ||||||
| Cost of Revenues | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 258,612 | $ | 256,673 | $ | — | $ | 1,939 | 0.8% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 127,779 | 117,105 | (2,766) | 13,440 | 11.5% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 159,093 | 102,750 | — | 56,343 | 54.8% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 545,484 | $ | 476,528 | $ | (2,766) | $ | 71,722 | 15.1% | ||||||
| Operating Profit | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 1,422,760 | $ | 1,301,638 | $ | — | $ | 121,122 | 9.3% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 294,936 | 279,056 | (5,250) | 21,130 | 7.6% | ||||||||||
| Site development | 45,654 | 25,916 | — | 19,738 | 76.2% |
Revenues
Domestic site leasing revenues increased $123.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to (1) revenues from 961 towers acquired (including wireless tenant licenses on 713 utility transmission structures from the PG&E transaction) and 21 towers built since January 1, 2020 and (2) organic site leasing growth, primarily from monetary lease amendments for additional equipment added to our towers as well as new leases and contractual rent escalators, partially offset by lease non-renewals.
International site leasing revenues increased $26.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing revenues increased $34.6 million. These changes were primarily due to (1) revenues from 263 towers acquired and 623 towers built since January 1, 2020 and (2) organic site leasing growth from new leases, amendments, and contractual escalators, partially offset by lease non-renewals. Site leasing revenue in Brazil represented 11.1% of total site leasing revenue for the period. No other individual international market represented more than 4% of our total site leasing revenue.
Site development revenues increased $76.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile and DISH Wireless.
Operating Profit
Domestic site leasing segment operating profit increased $121.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to additional profit generated by (1) towers acquired and built since January 1, 2020 and organic site leasing growth as noted above, (2) continued control of our site leasing cost of revenue, and (3) the positive impact of our ground lease purchase program.
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International site leasing segment operating profit increased $15.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing segment operating profit increased $21.1 million. These changes were primarily due to additional profit generated by (1) towers acquired and built since January 1, 2020 and organic site leasing growth as noted above, (2) continued control of our site leasing cost of revenue, and (3) the positive impact of our ground lease purchase program.
Site development segment operating profit increased $19.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year, as a result of increased carrier activity driven primarily by T-Mobile and DISH Wireless.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 115,458 | $ | 102,889 | $ | — | $ | 12,569 | 12.2% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 37,768 | 34,905 | (271) | 3,134 | 9.0% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 153,226 | $ | 137,794 | $ | (271) | $ | 15,703 | 11.4% | ||||||
| Site development | 20,636 | 17,663 | — | 2,973 | 16.8% | ||||||||||
| Other | 46,167 | 38,810 | — | 7,357 | 19.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 220,029 | $ | 194,267 | $ | (271) | $ | 26,033 | 13.4% |
Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $25.8 million, on an actual and constant currency basis, for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. These changes were primarily as a result of increases in noncash compensation, personnel, and other support related costs.
Acquisition and New Business Initiatives Related Adjustments and Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 14,452 | $ | 10,331 | $ | — | $ | 4,121 | 39.9% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 13,169 | 6,251 | (161) | 7,079 | 113.2% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 27,621 | $ | 16,582 | $ | (161) | $ | 11,200 | 67.5% |
Acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses increased $11.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses increased $11.2 million. These changes were primarily as a result of an increase in third party acquisition and integration costs as well as incremental costs incurred in support of new business initiatives as compared to the prior year.
Asset Impairment and Decommission Costs:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 20,135 | $ | 28,887 | $ | — | $ | (8,752) | (30.3%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 12,763 | 11,210 | (81) | 1,634 | 14.6% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 32,898 | $ | 40,097 | $ | (81) | $ | (7,118) | (17.8%) | ||||||
| Other | 146 | — | — | 146 | —% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 33,044 | $ | 40,097 | $ | (81) | $ | (6,972) | (17.4%) |
Asset impairment and decommission costs decreased $7.1 million, on an actual and constant currency basis, for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. These changes were primarily as a result of a decrease in impairment charges resulting from our regular analysis of whether the future cash flows from certain towers are adequate to recover the carrying
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value of the investment in those towers, as well as a decrease in costs related to sites decommissioned in the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the prior year period.
Depreciation, Accretion, and Amortization Expenses:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 514,234 | $ | 539,399 | $ | — | $ | (25,165) | (4.7%) | ||||||
| International site leasing | 177,059 | 174,073 | (4,443) | 7,429 | 4.3% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 691,293 | $ | 713,472 | $ | (4,443) | $ | (17,736) | (2.5%) | ||||||
| Site development | 2,295 | 2,356 | — | (61) | (2.6%) | ||||||||||
| Other | 6,573 | 6,142 | — | 431 | 7.0% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 700,161 | $ | 721,970 | $ | (4,443) | $ | (17,366) | (2.4%) |
Depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $21.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense decreased $17.4 million. These changes were primarily due to the impact of assets that became fully depreciated since the prior year period, partially offset by an increase in the number of towers we acquired and built since January 1, 2020.
Operating Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Domestic site leasing | $ | 758,481 | $ | 620,132 | $ | — | $ | 138,349 | 22.3% | ||||||
| International site leasing | 54,177 | 52,617 | (294) | 1,854 | 3.5% | ||||||||||
| Total site leasing | $ | 812,658 | $ | 672,749 | $ | (294) | $ | 140,203 | 20.8% | ||||||
| Site development | 22,723 | 5,897 | — | 16,826 | 285.3% | ||||||||||
| Other | (52,886) | (44,952) | — | (7,934) | 17.6% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | 782,495 | $ | 633,694 | $ | (294) | $ | 149,095 | 23.5% |
Domestic site leasing operating income increased $138.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher segment operating profit, decreases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense and asset impairment and decommission costs, partially offset by increases in selling, general, and administrative expenses and acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses.
International site leasing operating income increased $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, international site leasing operating income increased $1.9 million. These changes were primarily due to higher segment operating profit, partially offset by increases in depreciation, accretion, and amortization expense, selling, general, and administrative expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, and acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses.
Site development operating income increased $16.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher segment operating profit driven by more activity from T-Mobile and DISH Wireless, partially offset by an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
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Other Income (Expense):
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 3,448 | $ | 2,981 | $ | (112) | $ | 579 | 19.4% | ||||||
| Interest expense | (352,919) | (367,874) | 27 | 14,928 | (4.1%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | (47,085) | (24,870) | — | (22,215) | 89.3% | ||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred financing fees | (19,589) | (20,058) | — | 469 | (2.3%) | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | (39,502) | (19,463) | — | (20,039) | 103.0% | ||||||||||
| Other expense, net | (74,284) | (222,159) | 153,172 | (5,297) | 293.8% | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | (529,931) | $ | (651,443) | $ | 153,087 | $ | (31,575) | 7.3% |
Interest expense decreased $15.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. This change was primarily due to a lower weighted average interest rate due in part to the interest rate swap entered into during third quarter of 2020, partially offset by a higher average principal amount of cash interest bearing debt outstanding.
Non-cash interest expense increased $22.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year primarily related to amortization of accumulated losses related to our interest rate swaps de-designated as cash flow hedges.
Loss from extinguishment of debt was $39.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 representing the payment of a $13.4 million call premium and the write-off of $10.3 million of the unamortized financing fees related to the redemption of the 2016 Senior Notes in November 2021, the payment of a $7.5 million call premium and the write-off of $4.2 million of the unamortized financing fees related to the redemption of the 2017 Senior Notes in February 2021, the write-off of $2.0 million of unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2017-1C Tower Securities in May 2021, and the write-off of $2.0 million of unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2013-2C Tower Securities in October 2021. Loss from extinguishment of debt was $19.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 representing the payment of a $9.1 million call premium and the write-off of $7.7 million of the original issuance discount and unamortized financing fees related to the redemption of the 2014 Senior Notes in February 2020, as well as the write-off of $2.6 million of unamortized financing fees related to the repayment of the 2015-1C Tower Securities and 2016-1C Tower Securities in July 2020.
Other expense, net includes a $66.3 million loss on the remeasurement of U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2021, while the prior year period included a $220.4 million loss.
(Provision) Benefit for Income Taxes:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| (Provision) benefit for income taxes | $ | (14,940) | $ | 41,796 | $ | (51,624) | $ | (5,112) | 15.5% |
Provision for income taxes increased $56.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, provision for income taxes increased $5.1 million. These changes were primarily due to increases in deferred foreign and state taxes.
Net Income:
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 237,624 | $ | 24,047 | $ | 101,169 | $ | 112,408 | 68.0% |
Net income was $237.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to net income of $24.0 million in the prior year period. This change was primarily due to an increase in operating income, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates including changes recorded on the remeasurement of the U.S. dollar denominated intercompany loans with foreign subsidiaries, and a
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decrease in cash interest expense related to the interest rate swaps. This was partially offset by increases in non-cash interest expense, loss from the extinguishment of debt, and provision for income taxes.
Year Ended 2020 Compared to Year Ended 2019
For a discussion of our 2020 Results of Operations, including a discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 25, 2021.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This report contains information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. We have provided below a description of Adjusted EBITDA, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure and an explanation as to why management utilizes this measure. This report also presents our financial results and other financial metrics after eliminating the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that providing these financial results and metrics on a constant currency basis, which are non-GAAP measures, gives management and investors the ability to evaluate the performance of our business without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We eliminate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates by dividing the current period’s financial results by the average monthly exchange rates of the prior year period, as well as by eliminating the impact of the remeasurement of our intercompany loans.
Adjusted EBITDA
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding the impact of non-cash straight-line leasing revenue, non-cash straight-line ground lease expense, non-cash compensation, net loss from extinguishment of debt, other income and expenses, acquisition and new business initiatives related adjustments and expenses, asset impairment and decommission costs, interest income, interest expenses, depreciation, accretion, and amortization, and income taxes.
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors or other interested parties in evaluating our financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is the primary measure used by management (1) to evaluate the economic productivity of our operations and (2) for purposes of making decisions about allocating resources to, and assessing the performance of, our operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA helps investors or other interested parties to meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations (1) from period to period and (2) to our competitors, by excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest charges from our outstanding debt) and asset base (primarily depreciation, amortization and accretion) from our financial results. Management also believes Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors or other interested parties in the evaluation of REITs. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is similar to the measure of current financial performance generally used by our lenders to determine compliance with certain covenants under our Senior Credit Agreement and the indentures relating to the 2020 Senior Notes and 2021 Senior Notes. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered only as a supplement to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as a measure of our performance.
| For the year ended | Constant | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | Foreign | Constant | Currency | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | Currency Impact | Currency Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 237,624 | $ | 24,047 | $ | 101,169 | $ | 112,408 | 68.0% | ||||||
| Non-cash straight-line leasing revenue | (30,117) | (3,475) | (106) | (26,536) | 763.6% | ||||||||||
| Non-cash straight-line ground lease expense | 7,766 | 13,955 | 72 | (6,261) | (44.9%) | ||||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | 84,402 | 68,890 | (33) | 15,545 | 22.6% | ||||||||||
| Loss from extinguishment of debt, net | 39,502 | 19,463 | — | 20,039 | 103.0% | ||||||||||
| Other expense, net | 74,284 | 222,159 | (153,172) | 5,297 | (293.8%) | ||||||||||
| Acquisition and new business initiatives | |||||||||||||||
| related adjustments and expenses | 27,621 | 16,582 | (161) | 11,200 | 67.5% | ||||||||||
| Asset impairment and decommission costs | 33,044 | 40,097 | (81) | (6,972) | (17.4%) | ||||||||||
| Interest income | (3,448) | (2,981) | 112 | (579) | 19.4% | ||||||||||
| Interest expense (1) | 419,593 | 412,802 | (27) | 6,818 | 1.7% | ||||||||||
| Depreciation, accretion, and amortization | 700,161 | 721,970 | (4,443) | (17,366) | (2.4%) | ||||||||||
| Provision (benefit) for income taxes (2) | 15,847 | (40,895) | 51,624 | 5,118 | 15.1% | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1,606,279 | $ | 1,492,614 | $ | (5,046) | $ | 118,711 | 8.0% |
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(1)Total interest expense includes interest expense, non-cash interest expense, and amortization of deferred financing fees.
(2)Provision (benefit) for taxes includes $907 and $901 of franchise taxes for the year ended 2021 and 2020, respectively, reflected in selling, general, and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Adjusted EBITDA increased $113.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, Adjusted EBITDA increased $118.7 million. These changes were primarily due to an increase in segment operating profit, partially offset by an increase in cash selling, general, and administrative expenses.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
SBAC is a holding company with no business operations of its own. SBAC’s only significant asset is 100% of the outstanding capital stock of SBA Telecommunications, LLC (“Telecommunications”), which is also a holding company that owns equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly own all of our domestic and international towers and assets. We conduct all of our business operations through Telecommunications’ subsidiaries. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, other than financings, is distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries from the net earnings and cash flow generated by these subsidiaries.
A summary of our cash flows is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 1,189,896 | $ | 1,126,033 | ||
| Cash used in investing activities | (1,423,260) | (446,366) | ||||
| Cash provided by (used in) financing activities | 339,264 | (469,017) | ||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | 105,900 | 210,650 | ||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equiv., and restricted cash | (13,082) | (8,962) | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of year | 342,808 | 141,120 | ||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of year | $ | 435,626 | $ | 342,808 |
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities was $1.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $1.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase in operating profit, partially offset by an increase in cash outflows associated with working capital changes.
Investing Activities
A detail of our cash capital expenditures is as follows:
| For the year ended | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | ||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Acquisitions of towers and related intangible assets | $ | (274,752) | $ | (181,473) | ||
| Acquisition of right-of-use assets (1) | (950,536) | — | ||||
| Land buyouts and other assets (2) | (32,416) | (89,945) | ||||
| Construction and related costs on new builds | (61,202) | (54,736) | ||||
| Augmentation and tower upgrades | (33,103) | (38,340) | ||||
| Tower maintenance | (34,541) | (29,395) | ||||
| General corporate | (4,848) | (6,095) | ||||
| Other investing activities | (31,862) | (46,382) | ||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (1,423,260) | $ | (446,366) |
(1)During the year ended December 31, 2021, we acquired the exclusive right to lease and operate 713 utility transmission structures, which included existing wireless tenant licenses from PG&E. The difference between the agreed upon purchase price of $972.0 million and the cash acquisition amount is due to working capital adjustments.
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(2)Excludes $16.3 million and $12.3 million spent to extend ground lease terms for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. In addition, the year ended December 31, 2020 includes amounts paid related to the acquisition of data centers.
On January 4, 2022, we closed on 1,445 sites under the previously announced deal with Airtel Tanzania for $176.1 million. Legal title was fully transferred at closing for 963 of the towers. The remaining 482 towers are pending post-closing site level documentation and due diligence and will be initially accounted for as acquired right-of-use assets until the full transfer of title for these towers is completed, which we anticipate to be in tranches through the end of the second quarter of 2023. During this period of time, we have all the economic rights and obligations related to these towers. Additionally, subsequent to the fourth quarter of 2021, we purchased or are under contract to purchase 371 communication sites for an aggregate amount of $137.1 million. We anticipate that these acquisitions will be consummated by the end of the third quarter of 2022.
For 2022, we expect to incur non-discretionary cash capital expenditures associated with tower maintenance and general corporate expenditures of $45.0 million to $55.0 million and discretionary cash capital expenditures, based on current or potential acquisition obligations, planned new tower construction, forecasted tower augmentations, and forecasted ground lease purchases, of $525.0 million to $545.0 million. We expect to fund these cash capital expenditures from cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility or new financings. The exact amount of our future cash capital expenditures will depend on a number of factors, including amounts necessary to support our tower portfolio, our new tower build and acquisition programs, and our ground lease purchase program.
Financing Activities
A detail of our financing activities is as follows:
| For the year ended December 31, | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | |||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||
| Net repayments under Revolving Credit Facility (1) | $ | (30,000) | $ | (110,000) | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of Senior Notes, net of fees (1) | 1,485,373 | 1,479,484 | ||||
| Repayment of Senior Notes (1) | (1,870,909) | (759,143) | ||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Tower Securities, net of fees (1) | 2,924,005 | 1,335,895 | ||||
| Repayment of Tower Securities (1) | (1,335,000) | (1,200,000) | ||||
| Termination of interest rate swap | — | (176,200) | ||||
| Repurchase and retirement of common stock (2) | (582,578) | (859,335) | ||||
| Payment of dividends on common stock | (253,580) | (207,689) | ||||
| Proceeds from employee stock purchase/stock option plans | 86,688 | 99,129 | ||||
| Payments related to taxes on net settlement of stock options and restricted stock units | (71,904) | (45,080) | ||||
| Other financing activities | (12,831) | (26,078) | ||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | $ | 339,264 | $ | (469,017) |
(1)For additional information regarding our debt instruments and financings, refer to “Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements” below.
(2)For additional information, refer to Item 5. Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
For a discussion of our Liquidity and Capital Resources for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, refer to Part I, Item 7 of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 25, 2021.
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Dividend
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we paid the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | Cash Paid | Aggregate Amount | ||||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Paid | Date Paid | ||||
| February 19, 2021 | March 10, 2021 | $0.58 | $63.4 million | March 26, 2021 | ||||
| April 26, 2021 | May 20, 2021 | $0.58 | $63.4 million | June 15, 2021 | ||||
| August 1, 2021 | August 26, 2021 | $0.58 | $63.6 million | September 23, 2021 | ||||
| November 1, 2021 | November 18, 2021 | $0.58 | $63.1 million | December 16, 2021 |
Dividends paid in 2021 and 2020 were ordinary taxable dividends.
Subsequent to December 31, 2021, we declared the following cash dividends:
| Payable to Shareholders | Cash to | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| of Record at the Close | be Paid | |||||
| Date Declared | of Business on | Per Share | Date to be Paid | |||
| February 27, 2022 | March 10, 2022 | $0.71 | March 25, 2022 |
The amount of future distributions will be determined, from time to time, by our Board of Directors to balance our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value and retaining sufficient cash to implement our current capital allocation policy, which prioritizes investment in quality assets that meet our return criteria, and then stock repurchases when we believe our stock price is below its intrinsic value. The actual amount, timing and frequency of future dividends, will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will be declared based upon various factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Registration Statements
We have on file with the Commission a shelf registration statement on Form S-4 registering shares of Class A common stock that we may issue in connection with the acquisition of wireless communication towers or antenna sites and related assets or companies who own wireless communication towers, antenna sites, or related assets. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we did not issue any shares of Class A common stock under this registration statement. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 1.2 million shares of Class A common stock remaining under this registration statement.
We have on file with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement for well-known seasoned issuers on Form S-3ASR which enables us to issue shares of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, or depositary shares as well as units that include any of these securities. We will file a prospectus supplement containing the amount and type of securities each time we issue securities under our automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR. No securities were issued under this registration statement through the date of this filing.
Debt Instruments and Debt Service Requirements
Terms of the Senior Credit Agreement
On July 7, 2021, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, amended our Revolving Credit Facility to (1) increase the total commitments under the Facility from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, (2) extend the maturity date of the Facility to July 7, 2026, (3) lower the applicable interest rate margins and commitment fees under the Facility, (4) provide mechanics relating to a transition away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate and the replacement of LIBOR by an alternative benchmark rate, (5) incorporate sustainability-linked targets which will adjust the Facility’s applicable interest and commitment fee rates upward or downward based on how we perform against those targets, and (6) amend certain other terms and conditions under the Senior Credit Agreement.
The Senior Credit Agreement, as amended, requires SBA Senior Finance II to maintain specific financial ratios, including (1) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA not to exceed 6.5 times for any fiscal quarter, (2) a ratio of Consolidated Net Debt (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) to Annualized Borrower EBITDA for the most recently ended fiscal quarter not to exceed 6.5 times for 30 consecutive days and (3) a ratio of Annualized Borrower EBITDA to Annualized Cash Interest Expense (calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement) of not less than 2.0 times for any
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fiscal quarter. The Senior Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of SBA Senior Finance II and its subsidiaries to incur indebtedness, grant certain liens, make certain investments, enter into sale leaseback transactions, merge or consolidate, make certain restricted payments, enter into transactions with affiliates, and engage in certain asset dispositions, including a sale of all or substantially all of their property. The Senior Credit Agreement is also subject to customary events of default. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Term Loans and certain hedging transactions that may be entered into by SBA Senior Finance II or the Subsidiary Guarantors (as defined in the Senior Credit Agreement) with lenders or their affiliates are secured by a first lien on the membership interests of SBA Telecommunications, LLC, SBA Senior Finance, LLC and SBA Senior Finance II and on substantially all of the assets (other than leasehold, easement and fee interests in real property) of SBA Senior Finance II and the Subsidiary Guarantors.
The Senior Credit Agreement, as amended, permits SBA Senior Finance II, without the consent of the other lenders, to request that one or more lenders provide SBA Senior Finance II with increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans provided that after giving effect to the proposed increase in Revolving Credit Facility commitments or incremental term loans the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA would not exceed 6.5 times. SBA Senior Finance II’s ability to request such increases in the Revolving Credit Facility or additional term loans is subject to its compliance with customary conditions set forth in the Senior Credit Agreement including compliance, on a pro forma basis, with the financial covenants and ratios set forth therein and, with respect to any additional term loan, an increase in the margin on existing term loans to the extent required by the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. Upon SBA Senior Finance II’s request, each lender may decide, in its sole discretion, whether to increase all or a portion of its Revolving Credit Facility commitment or whether to provide SBA Senior Finance II with additional term loans and, if so, upon what terms.
Revolving Credit Facility under the Senior Credit Agreement
The Revolving Credit Facility consists of a revolving loan under which up to $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount may be borrowed, repaid and redrawn, based upon specific financial ratios and subject to the satisfaction of other customary conditions to borrowing. Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility accrue interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election, at either (1) the Eurodollar Rate plus a margin that ranges from 112.5 basis points to 150.0 basis points or (2) the Base Rate plus a margin that ranges from 12.5 basis points to 50.0 basis points, in each case based on the ratio of Consolidated Net Debt to Annualized Borrower EBITDA, calculated in accordance with the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.15% and 0.25% per annum on the amount of unused commitment. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be used for general corporate purposes. SBA Senior Finance II may, from time to time, borrow from and repay the Revolving Credit Facility. Consequently, the amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at the end of the period may not be reflective of the total amounts outstanding during such period.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we borrowed $1.9 billion and repaid $2.0 billion of the outstanding balance under the Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2021, the balance outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility was $350.0 million accruing interest at 1.516% per annum. In addition, SBA Senior Finance II was required to pay a commitment fee of 0.15% per annum on the amount of the unused commitment. As of December 31, 2021, SBA Senior Finance II was in compliance with the financial covenants contained in the Senior Credit Agreement.
Subsequent to December 31, 2021, we borrowed an additional $210.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility, and as of the date of this filing, $560.0 million was outstanding.
Term Loan under the Senior Credit Agreement
2018 Term Loan
On April 11, 2018, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II LLC, obtained a term loan (the “2018 Term Loan”) under the amended and restated Senior Credit Agreement. The 2018 Term Loan consists of a senior secured term loan with an initial aggregate principal amount of $2.4 billion that matures on April 11, 2025. The 2018 Term Loan accrues interest, at SBA Senior Finance II’s election at either the Base Rate plus 75 basis points (with a zero Base Rate floor) or the Eurodollar Rate plus 175 basis points (with a zero Eurodollar Rate floor). The 2018 Term Loan was issued at 99.75% of par value. As of December 31, 2021, the 2018 Term Loan was accruing interest at 1.860% per annum. Principal payments on the 2018 Term Loan are made in quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September, and December in an amount equal to $6.0 million. We incurred financing fees of approximately $16.8 million in relation to this transaction, which are being amortized through the maturity date.
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During the year ended December 31, 2021, we repaid an aggregate of $24.0 million of principal on the 2018 Term Loan. As of December 31, 2021, the 2018 Term Loan had a principal balance of $2.3 billion.
On August 4, 2020, we, through our wholly owned subsidiary, SBA Senior Finance II, entered into an interest rate swap for $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for a fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through the maturity date of the 2018 Term Loan.
Secured Tower Revenue Securities
Tower Revenue Securities Terms
As of December 31, 2021, we, through the Trust, had issued and outstanding an aggregate of $6.7 billion of Secured Tower Revenue Securities (“Tower Securities”). The sole asset of the Trust consists of a non-recourse mortgage loan made in favor of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers on the mortgage loan (the “Borrowers”) under which there is a loan tranche for each Tower Security outstanding with the same interest rate and maturity date as the corresponding Tower Security. The mortgage loan will be paid from the operating cash flows from the aggregate 9,902 tower sites owned by the Borrowers as of December 31, 2021. The mortgage loan is secured by (1) mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds to secure debt on a substantial portion of the tower sites, (2) a security interest in the tower sites and substantially all of the Borrowers’ personal property and fixtures, (3) the Borrowers’ rights under certain tenant leases, and (4) all of the proceeds of the foregoing. For each calendar month, SBA Network Management, Inc., an indirect subsidiary (“Network Management”), is entitled to receive a management fee equal to 4.5% of the Borrowers’ operating revenues for the immediately preceding calendar month.
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding Tower Securities as of December 31, 2021:
| Security | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding | Interest Rate | Anticipated Repayment Date | Final Maturity Date | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 15, 2014 | $620.0 million | 3.869% | Oct. 8, 2024 | Oct. 8, 2049 | |||||||||
| 2018-1C Tower Securities | Mar. 9, 2018 | $640.0 million | 3.448% | Mar. 9, 2023 | Mar. 9, 2048 | |||||||||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | Sep. 13, 2019 | $1.165 billion | 2.836% | Jan. 12, 2025 | Jan. 12, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $750.0 million | 1.884% | Jan. 9, 2026 | Jul. 11, 2050 | |||||||||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | Jul. 14, 2020 | $600.0 million | 2.328% | Jan. 11, 2028 | Jul. 9, 2052 | |||||||||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | May 14, 2021 | $1.165 billion | 1.631% | Nov. 9, 2026 | May 9, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 million | 1.840% | Apr. 9, 2027 | Oct. 10, 2051 | |||||||||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | Oct. 27, 2021 | $895.0 million | 2.593% | Oct. 9, 2031 | Oct. 10, 2056 |
The Borrowers may prepay any of the mortgage loan components, in whole or in part, with no prepayment consideration, (1) within twelve months (in the case of the component corresponding to the 2018-1C Tower Securities, 2019-1C Tower Securities, 2020-1C Tower Securities, 2021-1C Tower Securities, and 2021-2C Tower Securities) or eighteen months (in the case of the components corresponding to the 2014-2C Tower Securities, 2020-2C Tower Securities, and 2021-3C Tower Securities) of the anticipated repayment date of such mortgage loan component, (2) with proceeds received as a result of any condemnation or casualty of any tower owned by the Borrowers or (3) during an amortization period. In all other circumstances, the Borrowers may prepay the mortgage loan, in whole or in part, upon payment of the applicable prepayment consideration. The prepayment consideration is determined based on the class of the Tower Securities to which the prepaid mortgage loan component corresponds and consists of an amount equal to the net present value associated with the portion of the principal balance being prepaid and calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in the mortgage loan agreement.
To the extent that the mortgage loan components corresponding to the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the interest rate of each such component will increase by the greater of (1) 5% and (2) the amount, if any, by which the sum of (x) the 10 year U.S. treasury rate plus (y) the credit-based spread for such component (as set forth in the mortgage loan agreement) plus (z) 5%, exceeds the original interest rate for such component.
Pursuant to the terms of the Tower Securities, all rents and other sums due on any of the towers owned by the Borrowers are directly deposited by the lessees into a controlled deposit account and are held by the indenture trustee. The monies held by the indenture trustee after the release date are classified as short-term restricted cash on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 4). However, if the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, defined as the net cash flow (as defined in the mortgage loan agreement) divided by the amount of interest on the mortgage loan, servicing fees and trustee fees that the Borrowers are required to pay over the succeeding twelve months, as of the end of any calendar quarter, falls to 1.30x or lower, then all cash flow in excess of amounts required to make
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debt service payments, to fund required reserves, to pay management fees and budgeted operating expenses and to make other payments required under the loan documents, referred to as “excess cash flow,” will be deposited into a reserve account instead of being released to the Borrowers. The funds in the reserve account will not be released to the Borrowers unless the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.30x for two consecutive calendar quarters. If the Debt Service Coverage Ratio falls below 1.15x as of the end of any calendar quarter, then an “amortization period” will commence and all funds on deposit in the reserve account will be applied to prepay the mortgage loan until such time that the Debt Service Coverage Ratio exceeds 1.15x for a calendar quarter. In addition, if any of the Tower Securities are not fully repaid by their respective anticipated repayment dates, the cash flow from the towers owned by the Borrowers will be trapped by the trustee for the Tower Securities and applied first to repay the interest, at the original interest rates, on the mortgage loan components underlying the Tower Securities, second to fund all reserve accounts and operating expenses associated with those towers, third to pay the management fees due to Network Management, fourth to repay principal of the Tower Securities and fifth to repay the additional interest discussed above. Furthermore, the advance rents reserve requirement states that the Borrowers are required to maintain an advance rents reserve at any time the monthly tenant Debt Service Coverage Ratio is equal to or less than 2:1 and for two calendar months after such coverage ratio again exceeds 2:1. The mortgage loan agreement, as amended, also includes covenants customary for mortgage loans subject to rated securitizations. Among other things, the Borrowers are prohibited from incurring other indebtedness for borrowed money or further encumbering their assets.
Risk Retention Tower Securities
In addition, to satisfy certain risk retention requirements of Regulation RR promulgated under the Exchange Act, SBA Guarantor, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, purchased (1) $33.7 million of Secured Tower Revenue Securities Series 2018-1R (the “2018-1R Tower Securities”) issued by the Trust with a fixed interest rate of 4.949% per annum, payable monthly, and with the same anticipated repayment date and final maturity date as the 2018-1C Tower Securities, (2) $61.4 million of Secured Tower Revenue Securities Series 2019-1R (the “2019-1R Tower Securities”) issued by the Trust with a fixed interest rate of 4.213% per annum, payable monthly, and with the same anticipated repayment date and final maturity date as the 2019-1C Tower Securities, (3) $71.1 million of Secured Tower Revenue Securities Series 2020-2R (the “2020-2R Tower Securities”) issued by the Trust with a fixed interest rate of 4.336% per annum, payable monthly, and with the same anticipated repayment date and final maturity date as the 2020-2C Tower Securities, (4) $61.4 million of Secured Tower Revenue Securities Series 2021-1R (the “2021-1R Tower Securities”) issued by the Trust with a fixed interest rate of 3.625% per annum, payable monthly, and with the same anticipated repayment date and final maturity date as the 2021-1C Tower Securities, and (5) $94.3 million of Secured Tower Revenue Securities Series 2021-3R (the “2021-3R Tower Securities”) issued by the Trust with a fixed interest rate of 4.090% per annum, payable monthly, and with the same anticipated repayment date and final maturity date as the 2021-3C Tower Securities. Principal and interest payments made on the 2018-1R Tower Securities, 2019-1R Tower Securities, 2020-2R Tower Securities, 2021-1R Tower Securities, and 2021-3R Tower Securities eliminate in consolidation.
Debt Covenants
As of December 31, 2021, the Borrowers met the debt service coverage ratio required by the mortgage loan agreement and were in compliance with all other covenants as set forth in the agreement.
Senior Notes
The table below sets forth the material terms of our outstanding senior notes as of December 31, 2021:
| Senior Notes | Issue Date | Amount Outstanding | Interest Rate Coupon | Maturity Date | Interest Due Dates | Optional Redemption Date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Senior Notes | Feb. 4, 2020 | $1.5 billion | 3.875% | Feb. 15, 2027 | Feb. 15 & Aug. 15 | Feb. 15, 2023 | ||||||
| 2021 Senior Notes | Jan. 29, 2021 | $1.5 billion | 3.125% | Feb. 1, 2029 | Feb. 1 & Aug. 1 | Feb. 1, 2024 |
Each of our senior notes is subject to redemption, at our option, in whole or in part on or after the date set forth above. During the subsequent three twelve-month periods, the senior notes are redeemable, at our option, at reducing redemption prices based on the applicable interest rate coupon (as set forth in the indenture) plus accrued and unpaid interest. Subsequent to such date, the senior notes become redeemable until maturity at 100% of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest. In addition, prior to February 15, 2023 (in the case of the 2020 Senior Notes) and February 1, 2024 (in the case of the 2021 Senior Notes), we may, at our option, use the net proceeds of certain equity offerings to redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes originally issued at a redemption price of 103.875% (in the case of the 2020 Senior Notes) and 103.125% (in the case of the 2021 Senior Notes) plus accrued and unpaid interest.
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Indentures Governing Senior Notes
The Indentures governing the Senior Notes contain customary covenants, subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including restrictions on the ability of SBAC and Telecommunications to (1) incur additional indebtedness unless the Consolidated Indebtedness to Annualized Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Ratio (as defined in the Indenture), pro forma for the additional indebtedness does not exceed, with respect to any fiscal quarter, 9.5x for SBAC, (2) merge, consolidate or sell assets, (3) make restricted payments, including dividends or other distributions, (4) enter into transactions with affiliates, and (5) enter into sale and leaseback transactions and restrictions on the ability of the Restricted Subsidiaries of SBAC (as defined in the Indentures) to incur liens securing indebtedness.
Debt Service
As of December 31, 2021, we believe that our cash on hand, capacity available under our Revolving Credit Facility, and cash flows from operations for the next twelve months will be sufficient to service our outstanding debt during the next twelve months.
The following table illustrates our estimate of our debt service requirement over the next twelve months ended December 31, 2022 based on the amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and the interest rates accruing on those amounts on such date (in thousands):
| Revolving Credit Facility | $ | 7,031 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Term Loan (1) | 67,349 | ||
| 2014-2C Tower Securities | 24,185 | ||
| 2018-1C Tower Securities | 22,270 | ||
| 2019-1C Tower Securities | 33,409 | ||
| 2020-1C Tower Securities | 14,368 | ||
| 2020-2C Tower Securities | 14,159 | ||
| 2021-1C Tower Securities | 19,371 | ||
| 2021-2C Tower Securities | 16,752 | ||
| 2021-3C Tower Securities | 23,491 | ||
| 2020 Senior Notes | 58,125 | ||
| 2021 Senior Notes | 46,875 | ||
| Total debt service for the next 12 months | $ | 347,385 |
(1)Total debt service on the 2018 Term Loan includes the impact of the interest rate swap entered into on August 4, 2020 which swapped $1.95 billion of notional value accruing interest at one month LIBOR plus 175 basis points for a fixed rate of 1.874% per annum through the maturity date of the 2018 Term Loan.
Inflation
The impact of inflation on our operations has not been significant to date. However, we cannot assure you that a high rate of inflation in the future will not adversely affect our operating results particularly in light of the fact that our site leasing revenues are governed by long-term contracts with pre-determined pricing that we will not be able to increase in response to increases in inflation other than our contracts in South America, South Africa, the Philippines, and Tanzania which have inflationary index based rent escalators.
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