LBI Revenues Up, Loss Narrows

LBI MEDIA INC. third-quarter 2008 net revenues increased 1.7% to $30.8 million, primarily attributable to increases for radio and for the company's UTAH TV station, partially offset by declines in CALIFORNIA and TEXAS TV and lost advertising revenue associated with Hurricane IKE. Radio revenues rose 6% to $17.486 million.

The company reported a widening net loss from $11.1 million to $29.4 million, primarily attributable to a $43.6 million increase in non-cash broadcast license impairment charges, partially offset by a $16.7 million net tax benefit primarily resulting from the increase in impairment losses, the absence of the loss on note redemption during the third quarter of 2008, and a decrease in net interest and interest rate swap expenses.

"We delivered solid results during the third quarter, despite a very challenging advertising market," said EVP/Secretary LENARD LIBERMAN. "Our third-quarter revenue growth was primarily driven by our radio operations, which outperformed our peers and the industry. We saw strength across all of our radio markets during the quarter, as we converted our strong audience shares into advertising dollars. At our TEXAS stations, we continue to benefit from the changes we made to our programming, which have led to audience growth and a strong advertiser response, despite very difficult comparisons to last year and the negative impact of Hurricane IKE during the period. We own nine radio stations and one television station in HOUSTON, and estimate that lost air-time and ad cancellations caused by the hurricane negatively affected our third-quarter net revenues by about 100 basis points. In LOS ANGELES, revenue growth from our radio cluster continues to outpace the market, as we capitalize on the programming success of our flagship television station, KRCA-TV, and offer creative advertising solutions for our clients.

"While net revenues declined at our television group, we are encouraged by strong sequential improvement at KRCA-TV in LOS ANGELES. Similar to our peers, the station has been impacted by softness in infomercial advertising and weakness in the mortgage and auto categories. However, during the quarter, we demonstrated success in leveraging our improved programming and increased audience shares to drive strong results in our national and agency driven business.

"Looking ahead, I am encouraged by LBI's performance during these very challenging times. Despite difficult near-term economic conditions, we are committed to executing our strategy and investing in our content with the goal of further increasing our market share. Our programming investments are leading to audience growth and we remain on track in our plans to launch a new Spanish language television network, ESTRELLA TV, in early 2009. Our station portfolio has never been stronger and we believe the steps we are taking will strengthen our strategic position and ability to serve the rapidly growing and vibrant Hispanic community."

« see more Net News