Nexstar’s 2Q Net Rev Up 38% To $126.2M

Nexstar Broadcasting Group today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30 that included a 38.2% increase in net revenue to $126.2 million compared to the year-earlier quarter’s $88.8 million.

Local revenue climbed 36.5% to $66.7 million from $47.4 million a year ago, while national revenue grew 43.4% to $28.6 million, up from $18.8 million last year.

Local and national core revenue was up 38.4% to $95.3 million.

Retransmission consent revenue jumped 65.5%, from $15.3 million in 2012 to $24.9 million in this year’s 1Q.

E-media revenue increased 65.5% to $7.6 million from $4.4 million.

Political revenue fell 70.5%, from $6 million in 3Q 2012 to $1.8 million this year.

Perry A. Sook, Nexstar chairman, president and CEO, commented: “Nexstar’s growth and operating momentum is accelerating in 2013 and we remain confident that continued year-over-year growth in all of our non-political revenue sources in the second half of the year will result in record annual revenue and free cash flow. Reflecting contributions from recently completed acquisitions as well as our focus on managing operations for current cash flow and future growth, all of our non-political revenue sources posted significant second quarter increases leading to record second quarter net revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. Nexstar’s year-to-date results and contributions from new stations are as expected and we look forward to the completion later this year of the accretive acquisition of nineteen television stations which was announced in April.

“During the second quarter, the successful integration of recently acquired stations combined with ongoing initiatives to leverage our targeted localism, content and advertiser relationships drove a 42% rise in net revenue, more than offsetting the $4.2 million year-over-year decline in political advertising revenue. Excluding political advertising revenue and including results from our recent acquisitions, second quarter station revenue grew 48.4%, reflecting core television ad revenue growth, a significant rise in retransmission consent revenues and our 26th consecutive quarter of e-Media revenue increases.

“Nexstar’s ongoing revenue diversification is reflected in the growth in total second quarter retransmission fee and e-Media revenue which rose 65.3% to $32.6 million, and accounted for 26% of 2013 second quarter net revenue, compared to 22% of net revenue in the year-ago period and 17% of net revenue in the 2011 second quarter.

“While financial results are benefiting from the operating contributions and expected synergies related to the 18 television stations acquired in the fourth quarter of 2012 and first quarter of 2013, as previously indicated, we incurred one-time legal, accounting, professional and other expenses related to recent strategic activity. These items totaled approximately $1.25 million in the quarter, with approximately $0.95 million of this amount in corporate expense and the remainder in station operating expense.

“In summary, Nexstar’s ongoing operating execution and discipline in managing costs, combined with select accretive station transactions have positioned the Company to achieve record revenue and free cash flow in 2013 and beyond. At the same time, our focus on the capital structure and cost of capital have positioned Nexstar with the financial flexibility to further consolidate mid-sized markets and return capital to shareholders while maintaining a favorable leverage profile, which, pro-forma for the completion of all announced transactions is expected to result in a total leverage ratio of approximately 3.5 times at year-end 2014.”

Read the company’s report here.