iHeartMedia, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2023.
Q4 2023 Consolidated Results
- Q4 Revenue of $1,067 million, down 5.2%; slightly better than the guidance range of down high-single digits, Excluding Q4 Political Revenue, Q4 Revenue flat
- GAAP Operating income of $80 million vs. $173 million in Q4 2022
- Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $208 million, within previously disclosed guidance range of $205 million to $215 million, compared to $316 million in Q4 2022
- Cash Flows from operating activities of $154 million
- Free Cash Flow of $142 million, Free Cash Flow including net proceeds from real estate sales was $145 million
Q4 2023 Digital Audio Group Results
- Digital Audio Group Revenue of $318 million up 6%
- Podcast Revenue of $132 million up 17%
- Digital Revenue excluding Podcast of $186 million down 1%
- Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $117 million up 17%
- Digital Audio Group Adjusted EBITDA margin of 36.7%
Q4 2023 Multiplatform Group Results
- Multiplatform Group Revenue of $684 million down 7%Excluding Multiplatform Group Q4 Political Revenue, Multiplatform Group Q4 Revenue down 3%
- Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $142 million down 39%Multiplatform Group Adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.7%
- Cash balance and total available liquidity2 of $346 million and $772 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2023
- Repurchased $15 million in principal balance of 8.375% Senior Unsecured Notes (at a discount to par) for $10 million in cash; expected to generate approximately $1 million of annualized interest savingsAs of December 31, 2023, since Q2 2022 combined Notes repurchases of $534 million at a discount to par for $447 million cash; in aggregate expected to generate approximately $45 million of annualized interest savings
- Cumulative reduction of the outstanding principal balance of these Notes from $1.45 billion as of March 31, 2022 to approximately $0.9 billion as of December 31, 2023
- Received cash proceeds of $101 million from sale of equity interest in BMI in February 2024
- Revenue of $3,751 million, down 4%; excluding Full Year 2023 Political Revenue, Revenue down 2%Multiplatform Group Revenue down 6%Excluding Multiplatform Group Political Revenue, Multiplatform Group Revenue down 4%
- Digital Audio Group Revenue up 5%Podcast Revenue up 14%
- Digital Revenue excluding Podcast flat
- GAAP Operating loss of $797 million decreased from GAAP Operating income of $57 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, as a result of the $965 million of non-cash impairment charges recorded in Q2 2023, primarily related to our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets balances. Full Year 2022 GAAP Operating income included $311 million of non-cash impairment charges, primarily related to our indefinite-lived intangible asset balance.
- Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $697 million, down from $950 million in the year ended December 31, 2022
- Generated Cash Flows from operating activities of $213 million
- Free Cash Flow of $110 million, Free Cash Flow including net proceeds from real estate sales was $118 million
- Received cash proceeds of $45 million from a sale leaseback of radio broadcast towers in Q3 2023
“This quarter the Digital Audio Group achieved the highest Adjusted EBITDA and margin in its history, illustrating the success of this high growth business. We view 2024 as a recovery year in which the company returns to growth mode — we expect to see our Multiplatform Group performance improve quarter by quarter throughout the year, and we expect our Digital Audio Group, including our industry leading podcast business, to continue to grow and reinforce its leadership position in the segment.”
“We continue to see signs of improvement throughout our business and the broader advertising marketplace. Our results this quarter are a strong indication that the reallocation of resources towards our high growth Digital Audio Group has been successful – through our relentless focus on efficiencies we have reduced our Multiplatform Group expenses by approximately 7% since 2019, which has in part enabled us to build a Digital business that generated $1 billion of revenue in 2023 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 33%,” said Rich Bressler, iHeartMedia’s President, COO and CFO.
“We continue to see signs of improvement throughout our business and the broader advertising marketplace. Our results this quarter are a strong indication that the reallocation of resources towards our high growth Digital Audio Group has been successful – through our relentless focus on efficiencies we have reduced our Multiplatform Group expenses by approximately 7% since 2019, which has in part enabled us to build a Digital business that generated $1 billion of revenue in 2023 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 33%,” said Rich Bressler, iHeartMedia’s President, COO and CFO.
“We expect to see a significant year over year improvement in our 2024 financial performance, supported by our ongoing efficiency efforts and what is anticipated to be record-setting political advertising year.”
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