ATN International (NASDAQ:ATNI) outlined plans to pursue customer growth, margin improvement and disciplined capital allocation following the initial closing of its U.S. tower portfolio sale, which generated $268 million in cash proceeds.
President and CEO Naji Khoury, who said he joined the company a few months ago, described ATN as a telecommunications provider with operations divided between U.S. and international markets. The company provides fixed and mobile services to enterprise, carrier, household and consumer customers, and has more than 2,000 employees across its markets.
Second-quarter momentum and stronger liquidity
CFO Carlos Doglioli said second-quarter results reflected operating momentum in both the U.S. and international segments. Revenue grew nearly 2%, while adjusted EBITDA increased nearly 9% from a year earlier and total adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 170 basis points.
Doglioli said operating income was $240 million, including a $230 million gain related to the tower sale. The initial closing of the tower portfolio transaction provided $268 million in proceeds, of which ATN used $68 million to repay outstanding borrowings under its CoBank revolving facility.
At the end of the second quarter, ATN had $513 million of outstanding debt, a leverage ratio of 0.91 times and $240 million of undrawn capacity, according to Doglioli.
The company also announced a spectrum sale valued at about $41 million that it expects to close next year, Khoury said. While ATN has increased its share repurchase authorization from $15 million to $30 million, Khoury said management is still evaluating the best use of its capital.
“I need a bit of time to figure out if I put a dollar back in the buyback, what is my return versus investing it into the network or into organic, inorganic growth,” Khoury said. “We’re going through that exercise today, and we’re very disciplined about it.”
Doglioli also said ATN increased its quarterly dividend 5.5% to $0.29 per share and has maintained an uninterrupted quarterly dividend since 1999.
International markets: fiber expansion and enterprise opportunities
Khoury said ATN’s U.S. and international businesses have roughly equal revenue contributions, while the combined business is approximately split evenly between business and household customers. However, the mix differs by segment: ATN is more established in enterprise services in the U.S. and has greater consumer exposure internationally.
In the Caribbean, ATN passes 273,000 homes and serves 135,000 customers, Khoury said. He characterized fixed broadband as a key part of the international business, where competition is limited in many markets and fiber deployment is supporting customer growth and higher-speed offerings.
Guyana is a major growth opportunity, according to Khoury. He said the country has experienced significant infrastructure investment following oil and gas discoveries and has been growing GDP at approximately 20% year over year. ATN is the incumbent fixed-network provider in Guyana, has upgraded much of its network from copper to fiber and is about three-fourths through its fiber buildout there.
In the Cayman Islands, ATN is expanding its fiber network and expects to reach full island coverage after building out the East Side over the next year and a half. Khoury said the company has gained 20% to 40% penetration in fiber areas it enters, even where the incumbent also has fiber service.
Bermuda remains a stable market with high average revenue per user and strong margins, he said. In the Virgin Islands, ATN plans to transition over time from a hybrid fiber-coaxial network to fiber and reduce dependence on an unstable power grid.
U.S. residential focus and government-supported builds
ATN passes 251,000 homes across Alaska and the Southwest through its fiber and fixed wireless footprint, but has only about 6,000 residential customers in those areas, according to Khoury. He said the company’s prior commercial strategy had not delivered sufficient residential penetration and that management changes, including a new Alaska CEO, are intended to improve results.
Khoury said ATN has provisional bid awards totaling about $150 million through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, primarily in Alaska and partly in the Southwest. The funding will support fiber construction in areas that otherwise would be unprofitable to reach, while allowing the company to connect additional homes along those routes.
Doglioli said ATN also has more than $200 million of grant funding awarded to the company or its partners that will be completed over the coming year or so. For the first six months, capital expenditures were $38 million and reimbursable spending was $27 million. The company expects full-year capital expenditures, net of reimbursable spending, to remain within guidance of $105 million to $115 million.
Khoury said U.S. EBITDA margins, currently in the low 20% range, have room to improve through residential revenue growth, better gross-margin conversion and cost structure changes. He cited an ongoing overhaul of ATN’s Alaska operational and business support systems as one initiative expected to improve operating expenses and EBITDA when completed in 2026.
On low-Earth-orbit satellite competition, Khoury said ATN views providers such as Starlink as both potential partners and competitors. He said satellite connectivity can support remote-area backhaul and backup services, while ATN’s fiber infrastructure should remain competitive where fiber is available.
About ATN International (NASDAQ:ATNI)
ATN International, Inc (NASDAQ: ATNI) is a diversified provider of telecommunications services that operates through a combination of wireless, wireline and broadband networks. Headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, the company offers a range of voice and data solutions to residential, commercial and wholesale customers. Its core offerings include long-distance voice services, fixed-line telephony, broadband internet access and network infrastructure solutions.
Through its business segments, ATN delivers tailored communications products to underserved markets across the Caribbean, Latin America, parts of the Pacific and select rural regions of the United States.
