Beasley: 1Q Revene Drops 10.3 Percent On Station Swaps

Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. today announced operating results for the three month period ended March 31, 2015.

• Net revenues from continuing operations jumped 87% to $24.3 million
• Income from continuing operating grew from a loss of $1.5 million to a gain of $1.3 million  

Commenting on the results, George G. Beasley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “On a reported basis, first quarter net revenue from continuing operations rose 87.2% and SOI increased 92.3%. However, given the required accounting treatment for discontinued operations following last December’s asset exchange, the results exclude the stations we gave up in the transaction.

George Beasley

“As such, we continue to believe the pro forma presentation, which assumes the asset exchange occurred on January 1, 2014, better reflects the first quarter operating results. On a pro forma basis, first quarter net revenue decreased 10.3% while SOI declined 12.2%. The pro forma revenue decline is primarily attributable to overall market weakness in Charlotte and Tampa-St. Petersburg and softer ad sales at our Wilmington cluster during the first quarter, our reduction in spot units at the newly acquired stations and revenue in last year’s first quarter in Charlotte and Tampa-St. Petersburg related to the CBS affiliation that did not recur due to the change in ownership.

“While the first quarter pro forma presentation allows for a comparison of the same stations during both periods, it only partially reflects a range of recent revenue and cost initiatives primarily initiated at the newly acquired stations.

• In our Tampa-St. Petersburg market cluster, we’ve taken a holistic approach with respect to format changes, on-air talent and adding new management for the market, operations and sales.
• In our Charlotte market cluster strategy is focused on extending the cluster’s successes and driving further operating efficiencies. 
• Our Tampa-St. Petersburg and Charlotte clusters are highly competitive in their respective markets from the standpoint of revenue share.

“In addition to our initiatives during the quarter to extract financial and operating synergies from the asset exchange, we made further progress on debt reduction while returning capital to shareholders. During the first quarter we made credit facility repayments totaling $1.5 million, reducing borrowings to $96.2 million at March 31, 2015 and declared our sixth consecutive quarterly cash dividend.