Beasley Broadcast Group has announced operating results for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2019. During the second quarter of 2019, net revenue was up by 6.5 percent to $65.7 million. This $4 million year-over-year increase in net revenue during the second quarter of 2019, reflects increased revenue in the company’s Philadelphia market cluster, primarily due to the September 2018 acquisition of Country WXTU and increased revenue in the company’s Boston market cluster. Net revenue for the quarter was comparable to net revenue for the same period in 2018 at the company’s other market clusters.
Beasley reported operating income of $10.7 million in the second quarter of 2019. Second quarter 2019 interest expense increased by approximately $0.7 million to $4.5 million reflecting additional borrowings related to the WXTU acquisition and a higher overall cost of borrowings. As a result of these factors, Beasley reported net income of $4.3 million in Q2 2019, compared to net income of $4.9 million in Q2 of 2018.
Station Operating Income rose $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2019 to $17.9 million. The year-over-year increase reflects the net revenue growth during the period which more than offset a 6.2 percent year-over-year rise in station operating expenses related to the company’s expanded platform.
CEO Caroline Beasley said, “The strategic and financial benefits of our initiatives to further expand and diversify Beasley’s broadcast and digital platform are evident in our second quarter financial results and further highlights the progress we are making to reinforce and grow Beasley’s leadership position across all audio platforms in our markets. Record second quarter net revenue of $65.7 million was driven by the strength of our station clusters in three of our top five largest revenue markets as well as contributions from recent acquisitions and more than offset approximately $1.0 million in combined political and United States Traffic Network (USTN) revenue recorded in the comparable 2018 period, which was non-recurring in 2019. Reflecting the strong operating leverage in Beasley’s business model, second quarter revenue growth of 6.5% drove a 7.5% year-over-year increase in SOI and overall margin improvement.”
