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Beasley Broadcast Group Third Quarter Net Income Rises 12.6%
October 28, 2011 at 5:17 AM (PT)
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BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP has released financial results for the three- and nine-month periods ended SEPTEMBER 30th, 2011.
For Q3, Net Revenues were down 1% from $24.2 million to $24 million. Operating Income was down 4.8% from $5.9 million to $5.6 mllion, causing Net Income to rise 12.6% from $2.1 million to $2.3 million for the quarter.
Chairman/CEO GEORGE G. BEASLEY said, "While concerns about the U.S. and global economies, as well as weakness in the capital markets, persisted throughout the quarter, BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP's 1% revenue decline during the period was primarily attributable to a reduction in political spending in a non-election year. Excluding the impact of political, revenue was flat for the quarter. While we continue to experience revenue volatility in our markets, our clusters saw monthly sequential revenue improvements throughout the quarter with SEPTEMBER ending on a positive note despite year-ago comps, which included political spending. In addition, despite the challenging economy, revenue volatility in our markets, and the cyclical impact of political advertising, in the first nine months of 2011 BEASLEY BROADCAST GROUP generated a 2.2% rise in revenue that, combined with a decline in station operating expenses, drove an 8.6% increase in station operating income and margin growth to 34.4% from 32.3%.
"Our bottom line continues to benefit from our streamlined cost and operating structure even during periods of modest revenue declines. During the quarter, we held station operating expenses essentially flat, which resulted in the quarterly station operating income decline mirroring the revenue decline. In addition, total operating expenses for the quarter were on par with the year ago level and, combined with a significant reduction in interest expense, led to a 12.6% and 11.1% increase in 2011 third quarter net income and net income per basic and diluted share, respectively.
"During the third quarter, we further strengthened our balance sheet as we made repayments totaling $3.2 million against the credit facility, reducing total bank debt to $132.6 million at SEPTEMBER 30th compared with $142.0 million at the end of 2010. We ended the third quarter with our lowest leverage since mid-2006 and remain committed to using cash from operations to further lower debt and 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 addressing the balance sheet through continued reductions in borrowings. We have strong station clusters and ratings in key markets and we are highly focused on generating profitable station and digital revenue growth. Our streamlined cost and operating structure delivers significant operating leverage, which supports cash flow growth. With a half century of broadcasting success, BEASLEY BROADCAST is continuously developing strategies to benefit from changes in the media and advertising environments. We are confident we can further develop our platform as a high value media buy for advertisers and a primary source of on-air, online and mobile entertainment for consumers, which in turn will generate new value for shareholders."