Radio Pushes iHM 1Q Revenues To Gain 5.9 Percent

iHeartMedia, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter. Driven by increases in its core radio business, iHeartMedia  revenues increased 5.9% to $738.9 million during the first quarter, compared to the same period one year ago. The company cited growth in both broadcast and digital radio, along with the impact of trade and barter, political advertising and live events, along with  increases in its traffic and weather business.

“We’re pleased with the success of our growth initiatives in the quarter,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Bob Pittman

“We expect this momentum to continue to build, as we keep investing in our employees and transforming iHeartMedia, Inc. into a multi-platform, 21st century media and entertainment company with groundbreaking programmatic, data-learning and research capabilities. Our iHeartMedia results reflect our growing audiences across broadcast radio, digital, social, mobile and events, as well as our enhanced ability to monetize them, such as our ongoing success in attracting political campaign spending.

"At Americas outdoor, we have also seen continued evolution based on our introduction of a full range of innovative technologies that use aggregated, anonymous, statistical insights from third-party data providers to enable marketers for the first time to buy our inventory with the same sophisticated tools used in digital campaigns. At International outdoor, we are seeing our business plan gaining traction, including key contract wins and notable progress in the digital conversion of our inventory worldwide.”

Rich Bressler

“Building on our continuing investments, iHeartMedia and Americas outdoor were both up in revenues and OIBDAN, with International outdoor essentially flat, excluding the impact from foreign exchange rates and adjusted for the non-strategic asset sales,” said Rich Bressler, President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

“This solid performance of our operating businesses provides us with the flexibility to manage our capital structure in a prudent manner, and allows us to keep evaluating opportunities to strengthen our balance sheet and our businesses.”

Key financial highlights for the first quarter 2016 include:

• Consolidated revenues increased 4.1% after adjusting for a $15 million impact from movements in foreign exchange rates and the $20 million impact of the non-strategic Americas outdoor markets we sold in the first quarter of 2016. On a reported basis, consolidated revenue increased 1.4%.
• On a reported basis, iHeartMedia revenues increased $41 million, or 5.9%. Revenues increased $32 million, or 4.6%, excluding political revenue.
• Revenue from the company’s Premiere Networks syndication business was also up, spurred by  growth in the news/talk format.
• Americas outdoor revenues increased $12 million, or 4.2%, after adjusting for a $5 million impact from movements in foreign exchange rates and a $20 million impact from the sale of non-strategic markets. The increase was driven by higher revenues from digital and static billboards. On a reported basis, revenues decreased 4.5%.