American Tower 4Q profit falls, buys Indian communications tower firm for $430 million

American Tower 4Q profit falls, buys Indian firm

BOSTON — American Tower Corp. said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit fell by 25 percent as higher costs erased a revenue increase. The company also said it has purchased an Indian communications site owner for $430 million.

American Tower’s Indian subsidiary, Transcend, is buying Essar Telecom Infrastructure Private Ltd. for cash and assumed debt. Essar owns and operates 4,450 wireless towers in India and its acquisition would expand American Tower’s sites in that country to 7,000.

The deal is expected to close at the end of the second quarter. American Tower operates cell phone and broadcast towers that route mobile calls and TV and radio broadcast signals.

For the fourth quarter, the company earned $64.4 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $85.8 million, or 21 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue rose by 9.7 percent to $448 million from $408.3 million. Earnings fell short of the 18-cents per share in profit expected by analysts, but revenue exceeded their $445.2 million forecast, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the year, American Tower earned $246.6 million, or 61 cents per share, compared with $347.2 million, or 84 cents per share, in 2008. Revenue rose 8 percent to $1.72 billion.

Shares of American Tower, based in Boston, rose 3 cents to $42.84 in midday trading.