Uniti Group Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

Raises 2022 Outlook

Gross Install Monthly Recurring Revenue Up ~45% from the Prior Year Third Quarter

• Net Loss of $155.7 million or $0.66 Per Diluted Common Share for the Third Quarter Due to Non-Cash Items
• Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO Grew 3.6% and a pair of.4% for the Third Quarter, Respectively, from the Prior Year Third Quarter
• AFFO Per Diluted Common Share of $0.43 for the Third Quarter

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Uniti Group Inc. (“Uniti” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: UNIT) at the moment introduced its outcomes for the third quarter 2022.

“The demand for our mission critical fiber infrastructure remains robust across all of our customer segments as evidenced by our sixth consecutive quarter of elevated new sales bookings and another strong quarter of gross install activity. Our strategy continues to focus on buying or building mission critical fiber infrastructure, and then leasing that infrastructure to anchor and additional lease-up customers at attractive economics. This strategy has resulted in Uniti creating the second largest independent fiber network in the country consisting of 134,000 route miles, and along with the tailwinds in our industry and the relatively untapped capacity in our network, provides sustainable and profitable growth opportunity for many years,” commented Kenny Gunderman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Gunderman continued, “Uniti remains well positioned to weather the current economic headwinds through our $7 billion of revenue under contract with an average remaining term of 8 years, the strengthening of our balance sheet, lower capital intensity, and with 96% of our debt fixed-rate and no significant debt maturities before mid-2024.”

QUARTERLY RESULTS

Consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2022 have been $283.1 million. Net loss and Adjusted EBITDA have been $155.7 million and $225.1 million, respectively, for a similar interval. Net loss attributable to widespread shares was $155.9 million for the interval, and features a $216.0 million goodwill impairment cost associated to our Uniti Fiber section that was pushed by a rise within the macro rate of interest surroundings. Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”) attributable to widespread shareholders was $112.6 million, or $0.43 per diluted widespread share.

Uniti Fiber contributed $74.5 million of revenues and $28.6 million of Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2022, reaching Adjusted EBITDA margins of roughly 38%. Uniti Fiber’s web success-based capital expenditures through the quarter have been $26.3 million.

Uniti Leasing contributed revenues of $208.6 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $203.2 million for the third quarter, representing development of 4.6% for every respectively when in comparison with the third quarter of 2021. During the quarter, Uniti Leasing deployed capital expenditures of $71.9 million primarily associated to the development of roughly 2,250 new route miles of helpful fiber infrastructure.

LIQUIDITY

At quarter-end, the Company had roughly $268.4 million of unrestricted money and money equivalents, and undrawn borrowing availability below its revolving credit score settlement. The Company’s leverage ratio at quarter-end was 5.80x primarily based on web debt to 3rd quarter 2022 annualized Adjusted EBITDA.

On November 1, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly money dividend of $0.15 per widespread share, payable on December 30, 2022, to stockholders of document on December 16, 2022.

UPDATED FULL YEAR 2022 OUTLOOK

The Company is updating its 2022 outlook primarily for business unit stage revisions and the influence of transaction associated and different prices incurred thus far. Our 2022 outlook excludes future acquisitions, capital market transactions, and future transaction-related and different prices not talked about herein.

The Company’s consolidated outlook for 2022 is as follows (in thousands and thousands):

CONFERENCE CALL

Uniti will maintain a convention name at the moment to debate this earnings launch at 8:30 AM Eastern Time (7:30 AM Central Time). The convention name shall be webcast reside on Uniti’s Investor Relations web site at investor.uniti.com. Those events taken with collaborating by way of phone could register on the Company’s Investor Relations web site or by clicking right here. A replay of the decision shall be out there on the Investor Relations web site starting at the moment at roughly 12:00 PM Eastern Time.

ABOUT UNITI

Uniti, an internally managed actual property funding belief, is engaged within the acquisition and development of mission essential communications infrastructure, and is a number one supplier of fiber and different wi-fi options for the communications trade. As of September 30, 2022, Uniti owns roughly 134,000 fiber route miles, 8.0 million fiber strand miles, and different communications actual property all through the United States. Additional details about Uniti will be discovered on its web site at www.uniti.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements on this press launch and at the moment’s convention name could represent forward-looking statements inside the that means of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended every now and then. Those forward-looking statements embrace all statements that aren’t historic statements of truth, together with, with out limitation, our 2022 monetary outlook, expectations relating to sturdy demand traits, our business methods, development prospects, our potential to maintain troublesome financial situations, trade traits, gross sales alternatives, and working and monetary efficiency.

Words corresponding to “anticipate(s),” “expect(s),” “intend(s),” “estimate(s),” “foresee(s),” “plan(s),” “believe(s),” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “seek(s)” and related expressions, or the damaging of those phrases, are supposed to determine such forward-looking statements. These statements are primarily based on administration’s present expectations and beliefs and are topic to quite a few dangers and uncertainties that might result in precise outcomes differing materially from these projected, forecasted or anticipated. Although we imagine that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are cheap, we can provide no assurance that our expectations shall be attained. Factors which might materially alter our expectations embrace, however aren’t restricted to, the long run prospects of Windstream, our largest buyer; the flexibility and willingness of our clients to fulfill and/or carry out their obligations below any contractual preparations entered into with us, together with grasp lease preparations; the flexibility and willingness of our clients to resume their leases with us upon their expiration, and the flexibility to reposition our properties on the identical or higher phrases within the occasion of nonrenewal or within the occasion we exchange an present tenant; the provision of and our potential to determine appropriate acquisition alternatives and our potential to accumulate and lease the respective properties on favorable phrases; the danger that we fail to totally understand the potential advantages of acquisitions or have issue integrating acquired firms; our potential to generate enough money flows to service our excellent indebtedness and fund our capital funding commitments; our potential to entry debt and fairness capital markets; the influence on our business or the business of our clients on account of credit standing downgrades and fluctuating rates of interest; our potential to retain our key administration personnel; adjustments within the U.S. tax regulation and different state, federal or native legal guidelines, whether or not or not particular to actual property funding trusts; covenants in our debt agreements that will restrict our operational flexibility; different dangers inherent within the communications trade and within the possession of communications distribution techniques, together with potential legal responsibility regarding environmental issues and illiquidity of actual property investments; and extra components described in our studies filed with the SEC.

Uniti expressly disclaims any obligation to launch publicly any updates or revisions to any of the forward-looking statements set forth on this press launch and at the moment’s convention name to replicate any change in its expectations or any change in occasions, situations or circumstances on which any assertion relies.

NON-GAAP PRESENTATION

This launch and at the moment’s convention name include sure supplemental measures of efficiency that aren’t required by, or offered in accordance with, accounting ideas typically accepted within the United States (“GAAP”). Such measures shouldn’t be thought-about as alternate options to GAAP. Further info with respect to and reconciliations of such measures to the closest GAAP measure will be discovered herein.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

We confer with EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Funds From Operations (“FFO”) (as outlined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”)) and Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”) in our evaluation of our outcomes of operations, which aren’t required by, or offered in accordance with, accounting ideas typically accepted within the United States (“GAAP”). While we imagine that web revenue, as outlined by GAAP, is essentially the most applicable earnings measure, we additionally imagine that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and AFFO are essential non-GAAP supplemental measures of working efficiency for a REIT.

We outline “EBITDA” as web revenue, as outlined by GAAP, earlier than curiosity expense, provision for revenue taxes and depreciation and amortization. We outline “Adjusted EBITDA” as EBITDA earlier than stock-based compensation expense and the influence, which can be recurring in nature, of transaction and integration associated prices, prices related to Windstream’s chapter, prices related to litigation claims made in opposition to us, and prices related to the implementation of our enterprise useful resource planning system, (collectively, “Transaction Related and Other Costs”), prices associated to the settlement with Windstream, goodwill impairment fees, govt severance prices, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use belongings, the write off of unamortized deferred financing prices, prices incurred on account of the early compensation of debt, together with early tender and redemption premiums and prices related to the termination of associated hedging actions, positive factors or losses on tendencies, adjustments within the honest worth of contingent consideration and monetary devices, and different related or rare objects (though we could not have had such fees within the intervals offered). Adjusted EBITDA contains changes to replicate the Company’s share of Adjusted EBITDA from unconsolidated entities. We imagine EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are essential supplemental measures to web revenue as a result of they supply further info to judge our working efficiency on an unleveraged foundation. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is calculated much like outlined phrases in our materials debt agreements used to find out compliance with particular monetary covenants. Since EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA aren’t measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, they shouldn’t be thought-about as alternate options to web revenue decided in accordance with GAAP.

Because the historic price accounting conference used for actual property belongings requires the popularity of depreciation expense besides on land, such accounting presentation implies that the worth of actual property belongings diminishes predictably over time. However, since actual property values have traditionally risen or fallen with market and different situations, shows of working outcomes for a REIT that makes use of historic price accounting for depreciation might be much less informative. Thus, NAREIT created FFO as a supplemental measure of working efficiency for REITs that excludes historic price depreciation and amortization, amongst different objects, from web revenue, as outlined by GAAP. FFO is outlined by NAREIT as web revenue attributable to widespread shareholders computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding positive factors or losses from actual property tendencies, plus actual property depreciation and amortization and impairment fees, and contains changes to replicate the Company’s share of FFO from unconsolidated entities. We compute FFO in accordance with NAREIT’s definition.

The Company defines AFFO, as FFO excluding (i) Transaction Related and Other Costs; (ii) prices associated to the litigation settlement with Windstream, accretion on our settlement obligation, and positive factors on the prepayment of our settlement obligation as this stuff aren’t reflective of ongoing working efficiency; (iii) goodwill impairment fees; (iv) sure non-cash revenues and bills corresponding to stock-based compensation expense, amortization of debt and fairness reductions, amortization of deferred financing prices, depreciation and amortization of non-real property belongings, amortization of non-cash rights-of-use belongings, straight line revenues, non-cash revenue taxes, and the amortization of different non-cash revenues to the extent that money has not been obtained, corresponding to income related to the amortization of tenant capital enhancements; and (v) the influence, which can be recurring in nature, of the write-off of unamortized deferred financing charges, further prices incurred on account of the early compensation of debt, together with early tender and redemption premiums and prices related to the termination of associated hedging actions, govt severance prices, taxes related to tax foundation cancellation of debt, positive factors or losses on tendencies, adjustments within the honest worth of contingent consideration and monetary devices and related or rare objects much less upkeep capital expenditures. AFFO contains changes to replicate the Company’s share of AFFO from unconsolidated entities. We imagine that the usage of FFO and AFFO, and their respective per share quantities, mixed with the required GAAP shows, improves the understanding of working outcomes of REITs amongst traders and analysts, and makes comparisons of working outcomes amongst such firms extra significant. We take into account FFO and AFFO to be helpful measures for reviewing comparative working efficiency. In explicit, we imagine AFFO, by excluding sure income and expense objects, will help traders evaluate our working efficiency between intervals and to different REITs on a constant foundation with out having to account for variations brought on by unanticipated objects and occasions, corresponding to transaction and integration associated prices. The Company makes use of FFO and AFFO, and their respective per share quantities, solely as efficiency measures, and FFO and AFFO don’t purport to be indicative of money out there to fund our future money necessities. While FFO and AFFO are related and broadly used measures of working efficiency of REITs, they don’t symbolize money flows from operations or web revenue as outlined by GAAP and shouldn’t be thought-about an alternative choice to these measures in evaluating our liquidity or working efficiency.

Further, our computations of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and AFFO will not be akin to that reported by different REITs or firms that don’t outline FFO in accordance with the present NAREIT definition or that interpret the present NAREIT definition or outline EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO otherwise than we do.

INVESTOR AND MEDIA CONTACTS:

Paul Bullington, 251-662-1512
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
[email protected]

Bill DiTullio, 501-850-0872
Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations
[email protected]