One day after cutting 7% of their entire workforce, Beasley Media Group has released its Q1 2024 earnings report.
Beasley notes that revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% to $54.4 million versus last year noting declines in advertising, but also other revenue due to the sale of their Wilmington DE and E-Sports divisions.
CEO Caroline Beasley stated, “Beasley continues to advance our core initiatives, which are focused on driving revenue and cash flow, including our digital transformation, revenue diversification and expense management initiatives. We expect digital to account for between 20% and 25% of total revenue in 2024, driven by the ongoing growth and success of our premium content creation and digital services. On the new business front, our dedicated sales teams are leveraging the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our platform to attract new advertisers. In summary, Beasley’s underlying fundamentals—mainly, our local audio and digital platforms and audience engagement—remain strong. We are proud of our teams’ steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional content and services to our listeners, advertisers, online users and sports fans, and remain confident that the actions we are taking to transform our company and strengthen our balance sheet, are laying the foundation for future growth and success.”
Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBGI) (“Beasley” or the “Company”), a multi-platform media company, today announced operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2024. For further information, the Company has posted a presentation to its website regarding the first quarter highlights and accomplishments that management will review on today’s conference call.
First Quarter Financial Highlights
In millions, except per share data Three Months Ended
March 31,2024 2023 Net revenue $54.4 $57.8 Operating income (loss) (1.1 ) 0.4 Net income (loss)1 0.0 (3.5 ) Net income (loss) per diluted share1 $0.00 ($0.12 ) Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) 0.7 2.6 1 Net income (loss) and net income (loss) per diluted share in the three months ended March 31, 2024 include a $6.0 million gain on sale of an investment in Broadcast Music, Inc.
Net revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2024 decreased 5.9% to $54.4 million, primarily reflecting a year-over-year decline in audio advertising and other revenue due to Beasley’s Wilmington station and esports divestitures as well as ongoing softness in the commercial advertising business, partially offset by growth in digital and political advertising revenue.
Beasley reported an operating loss of $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to operating income of $0.4 million in the first quarter of 2023, largely reflecting the year-over-year decrease in net revenue.
Beasley reported net income of approximately $8,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, in the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the three months ended March 31, 2023. The year-over-year improvement was primarily due to the $6.0 million gain on sale of an investment in Broadcast Music, Inc. holdings and lower interest expense.
Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure) was $0.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2023. The year-over-year decrease is primarily attributable to lower net revenue compared to the prior year period.
Please refer to the “Calculation of Adjusted EBITDA” and “Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA” tables at the end of this release.
Commenting on the financial results, Caroline Beasley, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Beasley continues to advance our core initiatives, which are focused on driving revenue and cash flow, including our digital transformation, revenue diversification and expense management initiatives. We expect digital to account for between 20% and 25% of total revenue in 2024, driven by the ongoing growth and success of our premium content creation and digital services. On the new business front, our dedicated sales teams are leveraging the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our platform to attract new advertisers.
“In summary, Beasley’s underlying fundamentals—mainly, our local audio and digital platforms and audience engagement—remain strong. We are proud of our teams’ steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional content and services to our listeners, advertisers, online users and sports fans, and remain confident that the actions we are taking to transform our company and strengthen our balance sheet, are laying the foundation for future growth and success.”
First Quarter 2024 Highlights
- Revenue from new customers grew 53% year over year
- Generated $548,000 in political revenue
- Local revenue, including digital packages sold locally, accounted for 69% of Total Revenue
- Digital revenue grew 10% year-over-year, or 20% year-over-year on a same station basis, to $11,000,000
- Digital revenue accounted for 20% of total company revenue
- 38% of our total audience listens via the company’s digital platforms
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com