Beasley Broadcast Group today announced operating results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2024. For further information, the Company has posted a presentation to its website regarding the second quarter highlights and accomplishments that management will review on today’s conference call.
Net revenue during the three months ended June 30, 2024 decreased 4.8% to $60.4 million, primarily reflecting a year-over-year decline in audio advertising and other revenue due to Beasley’s Wilmington station and esports divestitures as well as ongoing softness in the commercial advertising business, partially offset by growth in digital and political advertising revenue.
Beasley reported operating income of $5.4 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to an operating loss of $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2023, reflecting the year-over-year decrease in operating and corporate expenses and non-cash impairment charges. For the comparable three months ended June 30, 2023, the Company recorded a $10 million non-cash impairment loss related to the sale of Beasley’s Wilmington station.
Beasley reported a net loss of approximately $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the three months ended June 30, 2024, compared to a net loss of $10.4 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the three months ended June 30, 2023. The year-over-year improvement was due to the factors described above and lower interest expense.
Adjusted EBITDA was $8.8 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $7.9 million in the second quarter of 2023. The year-over-year increase is primarily attributable to lower operating expenses and corporate expenses, adjusting for severance expenses that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by lower net revenue compared to the prior year period.
Commenting on the financial results, Caroline Beasley, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Beasley’s second quarter results highlight the ongoing progress we are making to position the Company for sustainable, profitable growth. The continued success of our digital transformation strategy led to a 10.4% year-over-year increase in same-station second quarter digital revenue, partially offsetting ongoing challenges related to softness in the audio advertising spot market. Digital revenue accounted for nearly 22% of total second quarter revenue, in-line with our full-year 2024 goal of 20% to 25% of total revenue. On the new business front, our dedicated sales teams are leveraging the audience reach and engagement of our platform to attract new advertisers. We have, and will continue to see the benefit of political revenue through the end of year, and at the same time, we are taking aggressive action to address near-term challenges through expense management initiatives, which drove approximately $2 million in expense savings compared to the prior year. We expect to achieve $10 million in annualized expense savings.
“In summary, we are refocusing our Company on what has traditionally made us great — our differentiated, premium local brands and multi-platform content offerings. We remain focused on leveraging our scaled leadership position across broadcasting, podcasting and digital audio to increase monetization, while reducing costs and creating new efficiencies to support strong cash flow generation. We are proud of our teams’ steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional content and services to our listeners, advertisers, online users and sports fans, and remain confident that the actions we are taking to transform our company and strengthen our balance sheet are laying the foundation for future growth and success.”
