Beasley Broadcast Group has reported its Q2 fiscal results for 2022, with net revenue up 8.8 percent to $64.8 million. The company attributed the increase to “the continued recovery of the commercial advertising market from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher political advertising revenue.”
However, Beasley reported an operating loss of $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to operating income of $5.8 million a year ago, primarily reflecting an $8.6 million non-cash impairment loss due to an increase in the discount rate used in the analyses to estimate the fair value of FCC licenses and goodwill in a rising interest rate environment. For the comparable 2021 second quarter, the company recorded $1.5 million of other operating income, net from life insurance proceeds related to the death of George Beasley, the company’s former Chairman.
As a result of these factors, Beasley reported a net loss of $14.5 million in Q2 2022 vs. net income of $0.2 million a year prior.
CEO Caroline Beasley said, “Beasley delivered another period of strong top-line results in the second quarter, reflecting solid year-over-year growth across all of our revenue sources. Net revenue increased 8.8%, inclusive of a 4.3% rise in audio revenue and a 34.3% rise in digital revenue, with digital accounting for 16.5% of second quarter net revenue.
“Digital remains a central component of our revenue diversification strategy, and the momentum we are seeing in our digital business is further underpinned by our ability to grow digital revenue 37% on a quarterly sequential basis, while also improving our digital margin. Our new business performance was robust this quarter, as we recorded $7.8 million in new business revenue, representing a 60% increase from the first quarter of 2022 and 16% growth over the comparable prior year period. In addition, we acquired a small white label digital agency at the end of June, which will immediately contribute positive cash flow and synergies. We believe these results continue to demonstrate the inaccuracy of the perception that radio is more challenged than other segments of the technology, media, and telecom sectors.”
