Cumulus Media Revenue Slightly Off During Quarter

Cumulus Media Inc. today announced operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022. 

Mary G. Berner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cumulus Media, said, "Notwithstanding a difficult macro environment, consistent execution of our strategic plan has put us in an enviable financial position to effectively navigate through the continuing headwinds. Our solid Q3 results reflect that execution – although total revenue declined, driven by weakness in national advertising channels, digital revenue continued to grow, and we increased profitability as well. We also generated $24 million of cash from operations, repurchased $3.9 million of shares, opportunistically retired $2.8 million of senior notes at a discount and finished the quarter with net leverage of 3.7x, the lowest it’s been in more than a decade."

Berner added, “Looking ahead, we will continue to rigorously implement our plan, which includes: furthering our multi-platform evolution; supporting growth of multiple, profitable digital businesses; reducing our fixed cost base; investing in high-ROI internal initiatives; maintaining a disciplined approach to M&A, including enhancing cash generation from non-core asset monetization; bolstering liquidity; reducing net leverage; and optimizing a multi-pronged capital allocation strategy. Given our track record, we continue to have strong confidence in our ability, under this plan, to grow shareholder value even in the incrementally challenging macro environment.” 

Key Financial Highlights: 

• Posted revenue decline of 2%, reflecting market-driven headwinds 
• Outperformed in local spot versus national ad channels (i.e., network and national spot)
• Delivered digital revenue growth of 5% year-over-year, led by digital marketing services (+12%), which benefited from new product additions, multi-market partnerships and strong sales execution, and streaming (+11%)
• Recorded third quarter net income of $8.5 million compared to net income of $27.4 million in Q3 2021, a period which included a one-time pre-tax gain of $20.8 million attributable to a land sale in Nashville
• Increased third quarter EBITDA by 2% year-over year, from $45.8 million to $46.6 million, with revenue declines more than offset by the benefits of prior and current period permanent fixed cost reductions
• Reduced net leverage(1) further, achieving the lowest levels in more than a decade – best among peers
• Generated $24.0 million of cash from operations, bringing year-to-date cash generation from operations to $54.5 million
• Retired $2.8 million of senior notes at an average purchase price of 89.8% of par, bringing year-to-date debt reduction to $65.1 million
• Reported total debt of $740.9 million at 9/30/22 and net debt(1) of $622.7 million
• Reduced net leverage from 4.7x at 12/31/21 to 3.7x at 9/30/22
• Completed $3.9 million of open market share repurchases with a volume-weighted average price of $9.43 per share - $21.1 million of availability remains under previously announced $50 million share repurchase authorization
• In Q3, repurchased 415,063 shares or 2.0% of weighted average diluted common shares outstanding as of 6/30/22
• Year-to-date, repurchased 2,139,200 shares or 10.2% of weighted average diluted common shares outstanding as of 12/31/21