Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call October 28, 2022 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Collin Jones - Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development

Mary Berner - President and Chief Executive Officer

Frank Lopez-Balboa - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Michael Kupinski - Noble Capital Markets

Aaron Watts - Deutsche Bank

Dan Day - B. Riley Securities

Jim Goss - Barrington Research

Operator

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to today’s Cumulus Media Quarterly Earnings Conference Call. I will now turn it over to Collin Jones, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development. Sir, you may please go ahead.

Collin Jones

Thank you, operator. Welcome, everyone, to our Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. I'm joined today by our President and CEO, Mary Berner; and our CFO, Frank Lopez-Balboa.

Before we start, please note that certain statements in today's press release and discussed on this call may constitute forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current assessments and assumptions, and they are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.

In addition, we will also use certain non-GAAP financial measures. We believe the supplementary information is useful to investors, although it should not be considered superior to the measures presented in accordance with GAAP. A full description of these risks, as well as financial reconciliations to non-GAAP terms are in our press release and SEC filings.

The press release can be found in the Investor Relations portion of our website and our Form 10-Q was also filed with the SEC shortly before this call. We also posted a Q3 investor update to our website, which we encourage you to download if you haven’t already. A recording of today's call will be available for about a month via link on our website.

And with that, I'll now turn it over to our President and CEO, Mary Berner. Mary?

Mary Berner

Thanks, Collin, and good morning, everyone. Despite a challenging market environment, consistent execution of our strategic plan has put us in an enviable position that will allow us to not only effectively manage through the continuing headwinds, but also take advantage of opportunities that may arise. And in the context of this environment, our third quarter results reflect the benefits of that execution.

Although total revenue driven by macro weakness declined 2%, we increased EBITDA 2% with expanded margins. Digital revenue of bright spot grew 5%. We generated $24 million of cash from operations. We reduced net leverage to 3.7x, and we returned additional capital to shareholders through open market share buybacks. Looking ahead, we are confident that we will maximize the impact of our multi pronged capital allocation approach and as we continue to rigorously execute our business plan, drive shareholder value.