Townsquare Media reports Q4 adjusted EPS 34c, consensus 27c

Reports Q4 revenue $114.8M, consensus $111.85M. “I am pleased to share that Townsquare’s fourth quarter results met or exceeded our previously issued guidance, and our full year results met the guidance that we issued at the start of 2023. 2023 net revenue (excluding political) decreased -0.9% year-over-year, and -1.9% in total, to $454.2 million, the second highest revenue amount in Townsquare’s history. 2023 Adjusted EBITDA (excluding political) decreased -9.1% year-over-year, and -12.1% in total, to $100.0 million. Our Digital Advertising segment delivered net revenue and Adjusted Operating Income growth this year (each +7% year-over-year), offsetting weakness in the national and network marketplace, and first-time hurdles in our Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment. In total, Digital now represents 51% of Townsquare’s 2023 net revenue and 55% of our 2023 Adjusted Operating Income, and maintained a 30% Adjusted Operating Income margin, consistent with 2022’s margin,” commented Bill Wilson, CEO of Townsquare Media, Inc. “The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $68 million of cash flow from operations in 2023, an increase of $18 million, or +35%, as compared to the prior year. We could not be more pleased to share that given our strong cash position, we were able to repurchase and retire approximately $27 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount during the year. In addition, we repurchased $17 million of our common stock, and paid a high-yielding dividend while also investing in our business. We also ended the year with a strong cash balance of $61 million and net leverage of 4.43x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward.”