Q3 revenues were down nearly 1% for Beasley Broadcast Group, but that’s not the figure management is pointing to as the most important. After selling some Las Vegas stations and dropping unprofitable sports rights in Miami, same-station revenues were up 2.6% and station operating income (SOI) gained in the double digits.
“Overall I’m pleased with our Q3 results as they further demonstrate that we have taken right actions with respect to the management of our stations and our organization as a whole, with a focus on driving profitability, revenue growth from our large and mid-size markets,” said President and COO Bruce Beasley in a rather short conference call for Wall Street analysts and investors.
Net revenues for the quarter decreased 0.9% to $24.2 million, although, as mentioned above, that was a 2.6% gain on a same-station basis. As a result of the changes made by the company in the past year, SOI shot up 22.5% to $8.4 million. Net income was up 51.2% to $2.1 million, or nine cents per share.
“Our shining star now for the third consecutive quarter was our Las Vegas station cluster, which outperformed the market both nationally and locally. The market itself posted another quarter of revenue growth, increasing 4.2%, compared with our station cluster, which again significantly outpaced the market with a 28% revenue increase,” noted CFO Caroline Beasley.
For the company’s biggest markets, Beasley was down 4.1% while the Philadelphia market was up 6.7%, and in Miami Beasley was up 2.8% against a market increase of 6.3%.
