Crown Castle swings to profit in 2Q on tax gain

Cell-phone tower operator Crown Castle International Corp. Thursday reported a profit for the second quarter due to a tax benefit.

Net income was $55.1 million, or 19 cents per share, after the payment of dividends on preferred stock and the recognition of $74.9 million of tax benefits related to previous operating losses.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had on average been expecting a loss of 7 cents per share. Their estimates generally exclude items like tax gains.

In the same period a year ago, Crown Castle lost $37.9 million, or 13 cents per share.

Revenue was $379.5 million in the most recent quarter, up 11 percent from $342.9 million a year ago.

Analyst David Barden at Banc of America Securities said the results were "solid," with site rental revenue of $348.5 million beating his estimate. He noted that AT&T Inc. reported that its capital expenditures on wireless equipment were up 50 percent in the second quarter, confirming that carriers are speeding up efforts to commercialize spectrum holdings.

Houston-based Crown Castle raised its full-year forecasts for site rental revenue, gross margin and adjusted earnings each by $5 million. It now expects site rental revenue of $1.395 billion to $1.405 billion for the year, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $865 million to $870 million.