Ron, I am trying to get the analyst reports. Here is some news that looks pretty good. First Boston thinks NXLK will hit 45 this year.
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Thursday April 30, 12:20 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
NEXTLINK Communications Reports Strong Sales and Revenue Growth, Receives Funding and Continues Deployment of Aggressive Expansion Plan
BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1998--NEXTLINK Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:NXLK - news), a local facilities-based telecommunications provider, today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 1998.
Quarterly revenue reached a new high of $26.5 million, up 18 percent from the fourth quarter in 1997 and up 164 percent from the $10.1 million reported in the comparable period in 1997.
Revenues generated from NEXTLINK's competitive local exchange (CLEC) services, including revenue from its installed base of access lines and dedicated services, was the primary source of the overall revenue growth, as CLEC revenues climbed 43 percent over the fourth quarter of 1997. Driving the accelerated growth rate was 22,703 access lines added during the quarter, an 18 percent increase over access line additions during the fourth quarter of 1997. This brought the total number of access lines to 72,834 as of March 31, 1998.
The EBITDA loss (operating loss before depreciation, amortization and deferred compensation expense) for the first quarter of 1998 totaled $30.0 million, compared to a $13.1 million EBITDA loss in the comparable period in 1997. While the overall EBITDA loss continued to grow as NEXTLINK pursued development of 10 new markets, EBITDA losses in markets launched in 1996 declined.
''We are pleased with our strong first quarter sales and revenue growth attained while aggressively advancing our tier one expansion plans,'' said Jim Voelker, president. ''Since the beginning of the year we have successfully raised $935 million to pre-fund our market development and are on schedule to begin construction in a total of 10 tier one markets in 1998.''
In February, NEXTLINK revised its expansion plan to build networks in 50 markets serving 21 million addressable business lines by the end of 1999.
During the first quarter, NEXTLINK launched switched services in Chicago and previously announced plans to begin network construction for switched services in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, New Jersey, Atlanta and five other tier one markets by year end. NEXTLINK also completed its first successful porting of a local number from the Regional Bell Operating Companies in Philadelphia and Chicago.
NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. was founded by Craig O. McCaw in 1994 to provide local, long distance and enhanced communications services to commercial customers. Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., NEXTLINK currently operates 16 facilities-based networks providing switched local and long distance services in 26 markets in eight states.
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The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts are ''forward-looking statements'' (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Management wishes to caution the reader that these forward-looking statements, regarding matters that are not historical facts, are only predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. No assurance can be given that the future results will be achieved. Such risks include those identified in the Company's S-1 on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and also include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully market its services to current and new customers, to design and construct fiber optic networks, install cable and facilities, including switching electronics, connect the networks to customers and interconnect with existing local exchange carriers, all in a timely manner, at reasonable costs and on satisfactory terms and conditions.
NEXTLINK COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Financial Highlights
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended
Mar 31,
1998 1997
Revenue $ 26,545 $ 10,067
Costs and expenses:
Operating 24,550 9,904
Selling, general and
administrative 31,957 13,274
Deferred compensation 624 892
Depreciation and
amortization 10,183 4,406
Loss from operations (40,769) (18,409)
Interest income 11,735 5,029
Interest expense (23,284) (11,139)
Loss before minority
interests (52,318) (24,519)
Minority interests 6 96
Net loss $ (52,312) $ (24,423)
Preferred stock dividends
and accretion of preferred
stock redemption obligation,
including issue costs (11,551) (6,803)
Net loss applicable to
common shares $ (63,863) $ (31,226)
Net loss per share $ (1.19) $ (0.79)
Weighted average
shares outstanding 53,482,222 39,312,482
EBITDA(1) $ (29,962) $ (13,111)
(1) EBITDA consists of net loss before net
interest expense, minority interests,
depreciation, amortization and deferred
compensation expense. EBITDA is
commonly used to analyze companies on the
basis of operating performance,
leverage and liquidity.
Condensed Consolidated Financial Results
(Dollars in thousands)
As of
Mar 31, Dec 31,
1998 1997
Cash, cash equivalents,
and marketable
securities $ 1,070,710 $ 742,357
Other current assets 35,564 27,485
Pledged securities 42,400 41,425
Total current
assets 1,148,674 811,267
Pledged securities 21,142 21,185
Property and equipment, net 298,752 253,653
Other long-term assets,
net 294,017 131,048
Total assets $ 1,762,585 $ 1,217,153
Current liabilities $ 138,322 $ 69,582
Long-term debt and
capital lease
obligations, less
current portion 1,090,052 757,640
Other long-term liabilities 2,867 3,179
Minority interests 17 23
Redeemable preferred stock,
net of issuance costs 518,770 313,319
Class B common stock
subject to redemption 4,950 4,950
Total shareholders' equity 7,607 68,460
Total liabilities and
shareholders' equity $ 1,762,585 $ 1,217,153
Operating Data(1)
As of As of As of As of
Mar 31, Dec 31, Sep 30, Jun 30,
1998 1997 1997 1997
Route miles (2) 2,036 1,897 1,757 1,595
Fiber miles (3) 141,788 133,224 124,399 117,464
On-net buildings
connected (4) 571 513 479 459
Off-net buildings
connected (5) 5,947 3,504 1,404 825
Switches installed (6) 14 13 13 12
Access lines in
service (7) 72,834 50,131 30,944 17,409
Employees 1,499 1,327 1,027 845
(1) The operating data for all periods
presented include the statistics of the
Las Vegas network, which the Company
manages and in which the Company has a
40% membership interest.
(2) Route miles refers to the number of miles
of the telecommunications path in which
the Company-owned or
leased fiber optic cables are installed.
(3) Fiber miles refers to the number of route
miles installed along a
telecommunications path, multiplied by the
Company's estimate of the number of
fibers along that path.
(4) Represents buildings physically connected
to the Company's networks, excluding
those connected by
unbundled incumbent local exchange
carrier (ILEC) facilities.
(5) Represents buildings connected to the
Company's networks through leased or
unbundled ILEC facilities.
(6) Switches installed include as of December
31, 1996 and subsequent dates, two long
distance switches acquired
in a business acquisition and, as of June
30, 1997 and subsequent dates, the switch
installed in the Company's
testing facility.
(7) Represents the number of access lines in
service, including those lines which are
provided through resale of
Centrex services, for which the Company
is billing services. Access lines in
service as of March 31, 1998
include 1,811 access lines acquired with
the Company's shared tenant services
business.
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Contact:
NEXTLINK
Media:
Todd Wolfenbarger, 425/519-3946
206/399-6770 (portable)
OR
Investor:
Lon Huntsman, 425/519-8940
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