CS&L Ekes Out Quarterly Profit As Real Estate Trust Launches Operations

Communications Sales & Leasing, Inc. reported second quarter profits of $8 million, or five cents per share, as the state’s newest publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) is fresh off its spin-off from parent company Windstream Holdings, Inc. earlier this spring.

“We are extremely pleased with the successful launch of CS&L as an independent publicly traded REIT,” CEO Kenny Gunderman said in a statement on Thursday. “We have developed a strong pipeline of acquisition and capital funding opportunities, and believe we are well-positioned to create substantial shareholder value as we grow and diversify our portfolio.”

CS&L was spun-off from Windstream Holdings on April 24, 2015. As such, the REIT’s second quarter only included the period from April 24, 2015 through June 30, 2015 and no prior period comparison, company officials said.

Overall, CS&L reported funds from operations (FFO) attributable to common shares were $71.8 million, or 48 cents share for the shortened second quarter period. Adjusted FFO (“AFFO”) attributable to common shares was $72.3 million, officials said.

At the end of the quarter, CS&L had total real estate assets of $2.44 billion and rental revenues of $124.1 million. Total assets and revenues were $2.64 billion and $128.7 million, respectively.

Going forward, CS&L said it expects to report FFO in the range of $1.71 and $1.73 per diluted common share.

“We expect AFFO to range between $1.73 and $1.75 per diluted common share, and net income attributable to common shares to range between $0.13 and $0.16 per diluted share,” the company stated. “These estimates do not reflect the impact of future acquisitions.”

On Wednesday, CS&L’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 60 cents per common share, payable on October 15, 2015 to stockholders of record on September 30, 2015. Ahead of Thursday’s opening bell, CS&L’s shares were trending upward at $22.00, up 79 cents or 3.72%.