iHM Reports 4Q Was Best-Ever For Revenue

iHeartMedia, Inc. Wednesday reported financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2022.  Financial Highlights:

Q4 2022 Consolidated Results

• Q4 Revenue of $1,126 million, up 6%; at high end of guidance of up approximately 2%-6%Excluding Q4 political Revenue, Q4 Revenue up 1%
• GAAP Operating income of $173 million vs. GAAP Operating income of $123 million in Q4 2021, up 41%GAAP Operating income margin of 15.4%, up 377 bps from 11.6% in Q4 2021
• Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $316 million increased 7%; at middle of guidance of $305 million to $325 millionConsolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin of 28.0%, up 34 bps from 27.7% in Q4 2021
• Cash Flows from operating activities of $213 million
• Free Cash Flow of $165 million

Q4 2022 Digital Audio Group Continues Strong Growth

• Digital Audio Group Revenue of $301 million up 10%Podcast Revenue of $113 million up 17%
• Digital Revenue excluding Podcast of $188 million up 7%
• Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $99 million flatDigital Audio Group Adjusted EBITDA margin of 33.0%

Q4 2022 Multiplatform Group Demonstrates Resilience

• Multiplatform Group Revenue of $733 million up 1%
• Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $230 million decreased 8%Multiplatform Group Adjusted EBITDA margin of 31.4%

Q4 Strong Cash Flow Generation, Proactive Capital Structure Improvement Through Debt PaydownFree Cash Flow of $165 million  Cash balance and total available liquidity2 of $336 million and $761 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022

Bob Pittman

“We are pleased to report another quarter of solid operating results for iHeart in consumer usage, revenue, and earnings growth. The fourth quarter was our best quarter for Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA -- and on a full year basis, in 2022 we generated the highest revenue and the second highest Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow year in iHeart’s history,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. 

“Even in this continuing challenging and uncertain economic environment, we continue to make strong progress in our transformation of iHeart into a true multiplatform audio company -- driven by innovation, supported by data and technology, and powered by the largest sales force in audio -- and we are positioning iHeart to take advantage of the coming economic recovery.”

Richard Bressler

“We had a solid quarter despite the increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment, with our consolidated revenues up approximately 6% year-over-year at the high end of our guidance range and our fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $316 million at the middle of our guidance range,” said Rich Bressler, President, COO and CFO of iHeartMedia, Inc. 

“iHeart has unparalleled assets that have proven their resiliency through economic downturns like this one, and as we navigate these uncertain economic conditions, we remain committed to driving shareholder value through our rigorous allocation of capital, identifying additional cost savings opportunities, utilizing new technologies to expand our product offerings, and improving our operational efficiency, and we believe the strength of our assets will become even more apparent as the economic environment and the advertising sector recovers.”