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Beasley Second Quarter 2014 Revenues Fall 3.6%; Net Income Up 28.1%
July 25, 2014 at 4:47 AM (PT)
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BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP, INC. second quarter net revenue dropped 3.6% to $25.9 million, with net income up 28.1% to $3 million (13 cents/diluted share), but 2013's numbers were affected by a pre-tax $1 million fee for debt pre-payment and a non-cash pre-tax charge of $1.3 million for loss on extinguishment of long-term debt, and 2014's included a pre-tax $0.3 million expense for debt forgiveness related to a note receivable.
The company blamed the decline in revenues on drops in PHILADELPHIA, WILMINGTON, NC and GREENVILLE-NEW BERN-JACKSONVILLE, NC.
Chairman/CEO GEORGE BEASLEY said, "Second quarter revenue levels reflect slower advertising spending across most markets where we operate which led to declines in seven of our eleven markets and lower station operating income.
"Overall, we outperformed in our five market clusters that report to MILLER KAPLAN. In these markets, which accounted for approximately 78% of total second quarter revenue, BEASLEY station cluster revenue declined 5.2%, compared with the total revenue for all reporting radio stations in these markets which were down 6.0% for the quarter. Our year-over-year revenue decline is partially attributable to difficult comparisons with 2013 second quarter results when we generated double digit revenue gains in markets including PHILADELPHIA and LAS VEGAS. However, our initiatives to expand our digital offerings are delivering results as we recorded an approximate 24% rise in digital revenue during the quarter. Notwithstanding the challenges faced in the second quarter, our market positions remain healthy based on our organization-wide focus on strong core programming and targeted localism. This focus is vital to the Company's ratings strength and long-term success.
"We continue to focus on debt reduction and returning capital to shareholders and during the second quarter we made credit facility repayments totaling $1.25 million, reducing borrowings to $102.25 million at June 30, 2014. Our debt and leverage reduction initiatives over the last few years are benefiting our bottom line, as we've lowered interest expense, while our leverage ratio remains near its lowest level in over 10 years. We intend to continue to allocate cash from operations to further reduce debt, pay quarterly cash dividends and to pursue other opportunities to enhance shareholder value.
"Looking forward, we remain focused on ensuring that our station clusters match or exceed their market's revenue performance while further strengthening our balance sheet. We have strong community involvement and an intimate connection with our listeners and advertisers in all of our markets, healthy station clusters and ratings, and excellent leadership and personnel across our organization. We believe our focus on our core content and digital media opportunities positions BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP to deliver compelling entertainment to radio users, a high value media buy for advertisers and profitable station and digital revenue growth for the Company."

