Atlantic Tele-Network: Hold that call

Connecting to the telecommunications sector is a challenge for investors, who have been jammed by losses from phone stocks all year. Hang on a moment, though: Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATNI) is trying to get through.

Hello, Guyana? For 17 years, Atlantic Tele-Network has owned 80% of the equity of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) — the national telephone service provider and largest wireless service provider in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. As a telecom specialist in small regions, Atlantic owns all of Commnet Wireless, LLC, which offers roaming services for U.S. and international carriers in rural areas throughout the United States.

With corporate offices in Salem, Mass. and St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, Atlantic also owns SoVerNet, which operates in New England. Other services include Choice Communications, LLC, in the Virgin Islands; Atlantic also owns nearly half of Bermuda Digital Communications Ltd. 

The company has skulked to a 10% year-to-date loss, compared with the 13% decline in the S&P Global Telecommunications Sector Index Fund. Atlantic has been dragged down by sector and overall market weakness, and good news through the third quarter ended September already has been factored into values. Calls for an earnings growth slowdown this year can’t be ignored.

In early November, Atlantic said its revenues were up 14% for the quarter to $47 million, compared with the same time the previous year. Net income increased by 15% to $0.61 per diluted share. The company's revenue was up 19% for the nine months through September, and net income on a per-share basis was up 32%. Fourth quarter results are expected Thursday.

That’s solid growth, and there will be more to come if the company pulls off plans for both its U.S. and Caribbean operations. In the United States, Commnet Wireless is key: Atlantic said in September that it would sell cell sites in two Midwest states to a carrier, and agreed — in exchange for a long-term roaming agreement — to build a network in rural areas in three states.

---You can read the FULL article when you register (registration is free!) or sign-in to SmallCapInvestor.com---