Investing.com -- Shares in Crown Castle International (N:CCI) rose by more than 2% in after-hours trading after the largest provider of shared wireless infrastructure in the U.S. upgraded its 2016 outlook and announced a CEO succession plan on Wednesday.
For the Houston-based company's fourth quarter, which ended in late-December, Crown Castle saw its revenue grow by 2.2% to $945.8 million, beating analysts' forecasts for sales of $928.5 million. It came amid an 8.6% spike in site rental revenue to $785.4 million, slightly above the company's previous outlook of $781 million. Crown Castle, which provides infrastructure for broadcasting, wireless broadband and mobile telephone companies, compiles portfolios of cell towers then leases them to the top wireless carriers in the U.S., including AT&T Inc (N:T), VZ Holding AG (VX:VZN), Sprint Corp (N:S) and T-Mobile. While Crown Castle earnings per share fell mildly to 0.39 from 0.41 on an annualized basis, the company still beat analysts' expectations of 0.32.
Also on Wednesday, Crown Castle announced that CEO Ben Moreland will step down from his position on June 1 when he will be succeeded by CFO Jay Brown. At that time, Moreland will stay with the company as its executive vice chairman of the board.
"The fourth quarter 2015 results demonstrate the continuing investments being made by the wireless carriers as they seek to improve network quality and capacity in order to meet consumer demand," Moreland said in a statement. "In addition to delivering great results throughout the year, we accomplished a number of strategic objectives in 2015 that strengthened our portfolio of assets, expanded our growth opportunities and fortified our balance sheet."
Moreland, 51, became the CEO of Crown Castle in July, 2008, after spending a decade with the company in a variety of leadership positions. Previously, he spent 15 years with Chase Manhattan Bank, primarily working in its corporate finance and real estate investment divisions. Moreland has also served as a director of FiberTower Corporation since 2005.
In terms of forward guidance, Crown Castle increased its full-year outlook for site rental revenues and its Adjusted EBITDA by an additional $10 and $12 million on Wednesday. The company now expects site rental revenues in the range of $788-$793 million for the first quarter and net sales between $3.162-$3.187 billion for the year as a whole. Eventually, Crown Castle hopes to increase annual growth in dividends per share by 6 to 7%.
"Our confidence in delivering this level of growth is underpinned by our long-term, high quality tenant leases that represent $20 billion in future contracted rent payments and the attractive value proposition that we offer to the wireless carriers," Moreland added.
Shares in Crown Castle gained 1.81 or 2.18% in after-hours to 85.00.