In the words of Entercom Communications President/CEO David Field, “Entercom delivered another solid quarter of organic top line and bottom line growth.”
Indeed, the company this morning reported a Q3 net income gain from $8.1 million (21 cents per share) to $11.4 million (28 cents).
Overall revenue grew from $114.7 million to $120.5 million.
But something else grew for one of the nation’s largest radio station owners: operating expenses.
While corporate expenses increased from $5.7 million to $7.5 million, station expenses ballooned from $80.9 million to $82.5 million.
That being said, Field was upbeat ahead of his company’s quarterly conference call with analysts and financial industry professionals, noting that Entercom is “very pleased” to have just completed a “highly successful” refinancing that will lower the company’s annual interest expense by more than $10 million.
He also noted that the just-closed purchase of four stations in Charlotte — an opportunity created from the Greater Media acquisition by Beasley Media Group — is a “value-creating acquisition.”
Also impacting the quarter, in a positive way, is the settlement of a legal claim with British Petroleum related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred in 2010, and the resulting negative financial impact on ad sales at Entercom’s New Orleans station cluster.
After deducting related expenses, the Company recovered $2.3 million, which appears as Other Income in the financial results.
Furthermore, Entercom’s Board of Directors declared a dividend of 7.5 cents per share, which will be payable on Dec. 15 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Nov. 28.
“We are excited by the opportunities ahead as we look to finish the year on a strong note and get off to a great start in 2017,” Field said.
As of Sept. 30, Entercom was saddled with some $443.6 million of senior debt, capital leases and senior notes; and had $9.9 million in cash. In addition, the company had $27.7 million in perpetual cumulative convertible preferred stock.
