SBS finished 2011 with a strong Q4

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SBS / Spanish Broadcasting SystemAs good as Q3 of 2011 was for Spanish Broadcasting System, Q4 was even better. Radio revenues were up by a double-digit percentage and produced an up year as well as an up quarter. And if you haven’t noticed, the company’s stock has been doing pretty well lately as well.


“We made significant progress during 2011 in executing our plan and advancing our financial performance,” said CEO Raul Alarcón in a statement ahead of a conference call with analysts and investors. “Our results reflect the improving advertising climate and the strength of our diversified media assets in reaching the fast-growing Hispanic audience. We have improved the cash generation of our business considerably through a disciplined approach to cost management, even as we have continued to strategically invest in building our brands, expanding our content and supporting our digital platform. Given the positioning of our assets in the nation’s largest Hispanic markets and the ongoing robust growth of the Spanish speaking population, we remain very optimistic about our long-term outlook given the increasing need for advertisers to reach our audience,” Alarcón said.

Radio revenues were up 11% in Q4 for SBS to $33.5 million. Excluding political revenues were up 13%. Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) was up 5% to $14.7 million.

TV revenues slipped 2% in Q4 to $4.6 million. The OIBDA loss, however, improved to $1.2 million from $2 million.

For full year 2011 radio revenues were up 3% to $123.2 million, or up 4% excluding political. Radio OIBDA gained 3% to $57 million.

TV revenues grew 7% in 2011 to $17.8 million. The television segment OIBDA loss improved to $7.2 million from $8.2 million.

Consolidated revenues were up 9% for the quarter to $38.2 million and 4% for the full year to $141 million. Including corporate overhead, OIBDA was up 24% in Q4 to $11.8 million and gained 12% for all of 2011 to $43.8 million.