Emmis posts pro forma gain in its fiscal Q3

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Emmis CommunicationsRadio and magazine group Emmis Communications registered a 1% gain in net revenue on the radio side during its fiscal Q3 ending 11/30/12. However, the results look a little better when you take only pro forma domestic radio into account, according to CEO Jeff Smulyan.


“I couldn’t be more pleased with the company’s outstanding operating performance,” said Smulyan. “Emmis radio station’s revenue growth continues to outpace its markets. While our markets were up 1 percent this quarter, Emmis stations saw an increase of 5 percent. With the refinancing of our entire capital structure that was completed after our quarter-end, we have dramatically reduced our interest expense and increased our ability to generate free cash flow going forward, completing the transformation of Emmis.”

Station operating income surged from $10M to $13.8M.

The new Emmis is considerably lighter than it was at this time in 2012, as it has since closed on the sale of WKQX-FM, WLUP-FM (both in Chicago) and WRXP-FM New York to Merlin Media.

The positive revenue report added to a good week for Smulyan, which also has included news from Sprint that it will be activating FM chips on select mobile devices, an action that Smulyan has been actively pushing for some time.