Q3 2024 E W Scripps Co Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- The E W Scripps Co (SSP) reported a record year for political advertising revenue, with over $340 million, marking a 30% increase from the previous Presidential election year.
- The company significantly exceeded expectations for third-quarter EBITA due to record political ad spending and tight expense management.
- The leverage ratio was reduced from 6 times at the end of Q2 to 5.1 times at the end of Q3, with expectations to further reduce it to the high 4 times range by year-end.
- Scripps networks saw a strong performance from WNBA games, doubling revenue for the 2024 season compared to 2023.
- The company is executing a strategy to improve networks margins by 400 to 600 basis points in 2025, focusing on both revenue and expense management.
- Local distribution revenue was down 6% year over year due to no pay TV contract renewals in the quarter.
- Local core advertising revenue decreased by about 9% from the prior year period, with significant displacement in key markets.
- Scripps networks revenue was down 6% from the previous year, impacted by the soft upfront advertising season and pricing pressure from streaming services.
- The company reported a $12.7 million restructuring charge, negatively impacting earnings per share by $0.11.
- The sale of the Bounce network has been delayed to 2025, affecting the timeline for debt reduction plans.
Good morning, everyone. This is Carolyn Micheli, head of Investor Relations at Scripps. We're going to start our call. Thanks so much for joining us. We apologize for this morning's delay. We had technical issues with our conference call provider, and we are not using an operator assisted line. So please make sure you stay on mute. We appreciate your graciousness and your patience as we navigate this call. We'll have a Q&A at the end of the prepared remarks again for now, please ensure you're on mute. I'll come back after Adam's remark and open up the call for questions.
A transcript of the call will be available at scripts.com this afternoon and you can visit scripps.com for more information. A reminder that our conference call and webcast include forward-looking statements based on management's current outlook and actual results may differ materially. Factors that may cause them to differ are outlined in our SEC filings.
We do not intend to update any forward-looking statements we make today included on this call will be a discussion of certain non-GAAP financial measures that are
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