Crown Castle beats annual site rental revenue estimate on steady demand

(Reuters) - Wireless tower operator Crown Castle beat Wall Street estimates for annual site rental revenue on Wednesday, driven by steady demand for its communications infrastructure.

Shares of the Houston, Texas-based rose 1.1% in aftermarket trading.

Demand for communications infrastructure has remained steady as users are shifting to 5G from 4G, triggering the need for fast data and infrastructure to support it.

Crown Castle reported annual site rental revenue of $6.53 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $6.51 billion, according to LSEG data.

The company's annual adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) was $7.55 per share, compared with $7.38 per share a year earlier.

Crown Castle, which counts AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications as its customers, posted fourth-quarter site rental revenue of $1.60 billion, compared with market estimates of $1.58 billion a year earlier.

Its fourth-quarter revenue of $1.67 billion was in line with analysts estimates. The company's AFFO for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $1.82, compared with $1.85 a year earlier.

In December last year, Crown Castle announced a review of its fiber business, after it came under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which has sought to shake up the firm for years of underperformance.

Crown Castle also said CFO Dan Schlanger will remain in his role. It had previously announced he would depart on March 31.

The real estate investment trust, which competes with American Tower and SBA Communications, reaffirmed its 2024 site rental revenue forecast.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

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