Vantage Towers' portfolio increased to c.82,000 macro sites and to a presence in 10 European markets – with leading positions in 9 of them – following recent addition of 50% stake in Cornerstone, the UK's #1 tower company
· Strong commercial momentum
– c.1,400 new tenancies added in first 9 months of FY21 to 31 December 2020, including c.500 previously non-committed tenancies1 – strong progress towards our medium term guidance of >1.50x tenancy ratio
– c.450 new macro sites added in first 9 months of FY21. Confident of hitting our target of c.550 new sites by 31 March 2021
– New agreements signed with Eir and Three in Ireland and AOTEC, the industry body representing over 150 local operators, in Spain
– IoT contract signed with Sigfox Germany
· Our programme to optimise ground leases through buyouts or renegotiations is showing encouraging results with pilots underway in 6 countries
· Reaffirming our targets and FY21 pro forma Recurring Free Cash Flow (“RFCF”) guidance of €375-385m
· Supervisory Board appointed with strong mix of sector, financial, technical and M&A experience
Vivek Badrinath, Vantage Towers Chief Executive, commented:
“The growth opportunity in Europe is considerable, as the roll out of 5G accelerates and mobile operators look to expand their networks to manage ever increasing data traffic.
I am very pleased with the commercial momentum we are building at Vantage Towers. Customers are appreciating the high quality of our grid and their response to our focused commercial approach is encouraging. This underscores our confidence in our tenancy targets.
Adding Cornerstone, the UK's number one tower company, to our portfolio in early January was a significant step. Cornerstone is a great addition – it's a market leader, with broad and dense coverage, providing services to two market leaders who already have a network sharing agreement in place. In January, we also finalised the appointments for our Supervisory Board, securing members with deep towers, entrepreneurial and M&A experience, alongside world class governance and technical expertise.”