Beasley Reports 4Q Revenue Off Slightly

The Naples-based Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. today reported net income of $3.6 million, or 16 cents a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, even with the income reported in the same period a year ago.

The company reported net revenue from advertising was down slightly in the quarter due to higher political advertising revenue a year ago.

For the year, Beasley reported net income of $11.5 million, or 51 cents a share, up from $11 million, or 48 cents a share, in the previous year.

Commenting on the results, George G. Beasley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Beasley Broadcast Group's fourth quarter net revenue decline primarily reflects a reduction in political spending as in the fourth quarter of 2012 we recorded approximately $1.2 million in political advertising revenue. While we were not able to fully offset the cyclical impact of political revenue, the fourth quarter radio advertising environment in our markets remains healthy and on an actual basis we reported just a slight decline in net revenue compared with last year. Excluding the benefit of political advertising in the year-ago quarter, Beasley Broadcast Group's 2013 fourth quarter same station net revenue rose approximately 2% and, reflecting our success throughout 2013, actual full year net revenue rose 4.7% while same station net revenue for 2013 was up 1.9% versus full year 2012.

"Overall, for our five markets that report to Miller Kaplan - which represent approximately 76% of total fourth quarter revenue - Beasley station cluster revenue declined by 2.6%, which again was primarily attributable to the cyclical nature of political advertising, while the total revenue for all reporting radio stations in these markets decreased by 4.1% for the quarter. Beasley Broadcast Group's out-performance relative to our markets again highlights the benefit of our organization-wide focus on strong core programming and targeted localism. Our planned investments in sales and programming and the expansion of our digital offerings, combined with the revenue decline, led to fourth quarter 2013 SOI which was 5.2% below year-ago levels.