Beasley Third Quarter Revenue, Income Rise

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BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP third quarter net revenue rose 5% to $26 million, credited to strength in PHILADELPHIA and MIAMI-FORT LAUDERDALE as well as the acquisition of two LAS VEGAS stations.  Net income jumped 175.5% to $3.2 million (14 cents/diluted share).

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer GEORGE G. BEASLEY said, "The third quarter marks BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP's fifth consecutive period of top line growth as third quarter net revenue rose 5.0% and same station net revenue increased 2.7%. Excluding the benefit of political advertising in the year-ago quarter, same station net revenue rose approximately 4.4%.

"The third quarter revenue increase reflects growth in local and digital revenue, strength in our largest market clusters in PHILADELPHIA and MIAMI, and continued growth in AUGUSTA. Overall, for our five markets that report to MILLER KAPLAN – which represent approximately 76% of our total third quarter revenue – BEASLEY station clusters grew revenue by 6.8% while the total revenue for all reporting radio stations in these markets declined by 1.4% for the quarter. Our out-performance continues to highlight our organization-wide focus on strong core programming and targeted localism, both of which are contributing to the Company's ratings strength in its markets.

"The revenue growth and ongoing expense management initiatives offset planned increases in sales and programming expenses and investments in the further expansion of our digital offerings. As a result, third quarter 2013 SOI increased 5.2% on an actual basis while third quarter SOI margins remain healthy at 36.4%, essentially in line with year-ago levels.

"In addition to our focus on core programming and expanding our on-air and digital advertising platforms, we continue to strengthen our balance sheet. Reflecting solid cash flows from operations, we made repayments totaling $2.0 million against the credit facility during the third quarter, reducing borrowings to $110.2 million at September 30, 2013 from $119 million at the end of last year's third quarter. Our debt and leverage reduction initiatives over the last few years are delivering strong benefits to our income statement as third quarter interest expense declined year-over-year by over 25% or approximately $0.5 million while our leverage ratio is now at its lowest level in over 10 years. We intend to continue using cash from operations to further lower debt as well as pursue other initiatives that can enhance shareholder value.

"Looking forward, we remain focused on our station clusters matching or exceeding their market's revenue performance and further strengthening our balance sheet. We have strong station clusters and ratings in key markets and we are highly focused on generating profitable station and digital revenue growth. We believe our dual focus on our core content and new media opportunities positions BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP to deliver compelling entertainment to radio users and a high value media buy for advertisers."

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