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Thursday, March 7, 2024

Saga Communications Says Lack of Political Revenue Impacted Earnings


Saga Communications, Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors declared a variable dividend of $0.60 per share in conjunction with the Company’s variable dividend policy. The dividend will be paid on April 5, 2024 with a record date of March 18, 2024. The aggregate amount of the payment will be approximately $3.8 million and the variable dividend will be funded by cash on the Company’s balance sheet.

The Company also reported that net revenue decreased 3.3% to $29.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 compared to $30.1 million for the same period last year. 

Political impacted the quarter’s performance as for the quarter the Company had $407 thousand in gross political revenue this year compared to $1.9 million for the same period last year. Without political revenue the Company’s gross revenue for the quarter would have increased approximately 1% compared to last year. 

Station operating expense increased 1.9% for the quarter to $23.3 million compared to the same period last year. 


For the quarter, operating income was $2.8 million compared to $4.9 million for the same quarter last year and station operating income (a non-GAAP financial measure) decreased 17.2% to $7.1 million. Capital expenditures were $1.0 million for the quarter compared to $1.3 million for the same period last year. We had net income of $2.5 million for the quarter compared to net income of $4.3 million for the fourth quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.37 for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Net revenue decreased 1.8% to $112.8 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2023 compared to $114.9 million for the same period last year. 

Political impacted the year’s performance as for the year the Company had $944 thousand in gross political revenue this year compared to $3.6 million for the same period last year. Without political revenue the Company’s gross revenue for the year would have been approximately flat compared to last year.

Station operating expense increased 3.0% for the twelve-month period to $90.2 million compared to the same period last year. For the twelve-month period, operating income was $11.5 million compared to $13.1 million for the same period last year and station operating income (a non-GAAP financial measure) decreased 15.0% to $27.4 million. Capital expenditures for the twelve months were $4.4 million compared to $6.0 million for the same period last year. Net income was $9.5 million for the twelve-month period compared to $9.2 million for the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.52 for the twelve months of 2023.

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