Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ:CMLS) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 27, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Collin Jones - EVP, Strategy & Development

Mary Berner - President & Chief Executive Officer

Frank Lopez-Balboa - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Michael Kupinski - Noble Capital Markets

James Goss - Barrington Research

Dan Day - B. Riley Securities

Operator

Good morning. Welcome to the 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 proceed.

Collin Jones

Thank you, operator. Welcome, everyone to our third quarter 2023 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 as discussed in our filings with the SEC.

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. A recording of today's call will be available for about a month via link in the Investor portion of our website.

With that, I will now turn it over to our President and CEO, Mary Berner. Mary?

Mary Berner

Thanks, Collin and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter revenue and EBITDA met expectations, which results reflect the ongoing dichotomy between local and national performances. While the softness in national advertising persisted causing an overall revenue decline, we mitigated that impact for our ongoing focus on areas that we can control, investing in our digital businesses, reducing costs and improving our balance sheet through non-core asset sales and debt reduction.

More specifically, during the quarter, we increased digital revenue by 7%, streaming, podcasting and digital marketing services each growing during the period. We executed an additional $5 million of annualized non-revenue impacting fixed cost reductions, bringing the total to $110 million since 2019. And we continued to maintain our best among peers liquidity position and balance sheet, completing a highly accretive $10 million non-core asset sale and retiring over $5 million face value of debt at a discount. These actions further improve the company's revenue growth profile, operating leverage, financial flexibility, and strategic optionality and collectively position us to rebound strongly when the advertising environment improves. That said, national advertising continued to be weak in Q3, with clients citing ongoing uncertainty in the macro environment is the main reason for lower spending.