Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE: TSQ) (“Townsquare”, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2022.
“I am proud to report that Townsquare’s transformation into a Digital First Local Media Company allowed us to deliver record results in 2022 despite a progressively challenging economic landscape. In 2022, we drove net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA to new highs with strong net revenue growth of +11% year-over-year and Adjusted EBITDA growth of +8% year over-year.
In addition, we generated significant cash flow from operations of $50 million, ending the year with over $43 million of cash, and net leverage declined to an all-time low of 4.29x,” commented Bill Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Townsquare Media, Inc. “2022 was a significant inflection point for our Company.
It marked the first year where radio no longer comprised the majority of our revenue and profit, further separating Townsquare from our local media peers, and placing a spotlight on our world-class team and our unique and differentiated strategy, assets, platforms and solutions.
Our growth engine has been and will continue to be our digital solutions, which were the primary driver of our 2022 growth. Total digital revenue increased +16% year-over-year (and +12% in the fourth quarter) to $231 million, and total digital Adjusted Operating Income increased +12% year-over-year to $69 million, representing a 30% profit margin.
We believe Townsquare’s ability to drive profitable, sustainable digital growth is a key differentiator for our Company, and we reaffirm our expectation that our digital revenue will grow to at least $275 million by 2024.”
Mr. Wilson continued, “We are uniquely positioned as a Digital First Local Media Company focused principally on markets outside of the Top 50 in the United States, with a resilient digital growth engine supported by both a recurring subscription digital marketing solutions business, with a large addressable market and limited competition, and a highly differentiated digital advertising technology platform.
We believe that our business model and strategy position us to weather the current economic environment better than most. We will continue to grow and support our local teams during these periods of macroeconomic challenges so that we can continue to be a resource to our local clients and audiences, and be well positioned to capture accelerated growth when economic tailwinds return.
Our success has been and will continue to be the result of the Townsquare Team focusing on what we do best: creating high quality, local original content for our audiences and delivering creative and cost-effective marketing solutions for our local clients with strong return on investment.”
The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors approved the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1875 per share. The dividend will be payable on May 1, 2023 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 27, 2023.
“The Board’s decision to approve a dividend reflects confidence in our current capitalization, the strength of our balance sheet, and our free cash flow generation. Our quarterly cash dividend of $0.1875 per share, or $0.75 per share on an annual basis, commences in May 2023,” concluded Mr. Wilson.
Segment Reporting
We have three reportable operating segments, Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions, Digital Advertising and Broadcast Advertising. The Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment includes our subscription digital marketing solutions business, Townsquare Interactive.
The Digital Advertising segment, marketed externally as Townsquare Ignite, includes digital advertising on our owned and operated digital properties, our first party data digital management platform and our digital programmatic advertising platform.
The Broadcast Advertising segment includes our local, regional, and national advertising products and solutions delivered via terrestrial radio broadcast, and other miscellaneous revenue that is associated with our broadcast advertising platform. The remainder of our business is reported in the Other category, which includes our live events business.
Fourth Quarter Highlights*
• As compared to the fourth quarter of 2021:
• Net revenue increased 8.8%
• Net income increased $2.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 11.0%
• Total Digital net revenue increased 11.9%
• Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions (“Townsquare Interactive”) net revenue increased 4.4% • Digital Advertising net revenue increased 16.9%
• Total Digital Adjusted Operating Income increased 20.1%
• Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions Adjusted Operating Income increased 6.4%
• Digital Advertising Adjusted Operating Income increased 28.9%
• Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased 4.0%
• Diluted income per share was $0.20, and Adjusted Net Income per diluted share was $0.66
Full Year Highlights*
• As compared to the year ended December 31, 2021:
• Net revenue increased 10.8%
• Net income decreased $4.4 million
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.2%
• Total Digital net revenue increased 16.2%
• Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue increased 10.5%
• Digital Advertising net revenue increased 20.2%
• Total Digital Adjusted Operating Income increased 12.2%
• Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions Adjusted Operating Income increased 7.0%
• Digital Advertising Adjusted Operating Income increased 15.7%
• Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased 3.8%
• Repurchased aggregate $19.2 million of our 2026 Secured Senior Notes at or below par
• Completed the acquisition of Cherry Creek Broadcasting LLC (“Cherry Creek”) for $18.5 million, net of closing adjustments
*See below for discussion of non-GAAP measures.
Guidance
For the first quarter of 2023, net revenue is expected to be between $100.0 million and $102.0 million (-0.2% to +1.8% as compared to the prior year), and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $17.5 million and $18.5 million.
For the full year 2023, net revenue is expected to be between approximately $450 million and $470 million (-2.8% to +1.5% as compared to the prior year), and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between approximately $100 million and $110 million.
Quarter Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to the Quarter Ended December 31, 2021
Net Revenue
Net revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2022 increased $9.7 million, or 8.8%, to $120.3 million as compared to $110.6 million in the same period in 2021.
Digital Advertising net revenue increased $5.4 million, or 16.9%, and Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue increased $0.9 million, or 4.4%, as compared to the same period in 2021.
Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased $2.3 million, or 4.0%, as compared to the same period in 2021. Other net revenue increased $1.1 million due to an increase in the number of live events. Excluding political revenue of $4.0 million
and $1.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, net revenue increased $7.4 million, or 6.8%, to $116.3 million, Digital Advertising net revenue increased $5.2 million, or 16.3%, to $36.8 million, and Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased $0.2 million, or 0.4%, to $55.6 million.
Net Income
Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, increased $2.0 million to $3.9 million, as compared to net income of $1.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to an income tax benefit, partially offset by non-cash impairment charges. Adjusted Net Income increased $8.5 million, primarily due to a decrease in the provision for income taxes of $6.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended December 31, 2022, increased $2.8 million, or 11.0%, to $28.4 million, as compared to $25.6 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) increased $0.9 million, or 3.7%, to $25.0 million, as compared to $24.1 million in the same period last year.
Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Net Revenue
Net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, increased $45.1 million, or 10.8%, to $463.1 million as compared to $418.0 million in 2021.
Digital Advertising revenue increased $23.6 million, or 20.2% as compared to 2021 and our Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions revenue increased $8.6 million, or 10.5% as compared to 2021, primarily due to incremental net subscribers of approximately 3,850 for the year ended December 31, 2022.
The increase in Broadcast Advertising Revenue of $8.3 million, or 3.8% was due in part to increases in the purchase of new advertising by our clients and an increase in political broadcast advertising revenue of $3.5 million. The increase in Other net revenue of $4.7 million is due to an increase in live events held during 2022.
Excluding political revenue of $7.5 million and $3.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, net revenue increased $41.1 million, or 9.9% to $455.6 million, Digital Advertising net revenue increased $23.1 million, or 19.7%, to $139.9 million, and Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased $4.8 million, or 2.2%, to $216.8 million.
Net Income
Net income for the year ended December 31, 2022 decreased $4.4 million, or 23.4%, to $14.4 million, as compared to $18.8 million in the same period last year, primarily driven by non-cash impairment charges to our FCC licenses, intangible assets, and investments of $31.1 million, partially offset by an increase in net revenue.
Adjusted Net Income increased $24.4 million, primarily driven by the increase in net revenue and a decrease in the provision for income taxes of $16.3 million.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased $8.6 million, or 8.2% to $113.7 million, as compared to $105.1 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) increased $5.2 million, or 5.1%, to $107.3 million, as compared to $102.1 million in the same period last year.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2022, we had a total of $43.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and $530.8 million of outstanding indebtedness, representing 4.67x and 4.29x gross and net leverage, respectively, based on Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2022, of $113.7 million.
The table below presents a summary, as of March 7, 2023, of our outstanding common stock.
SecurityNumber
Outstanding Description
Class A common stock 13,051,575 One vote per share.
Class B common stock 815,296 10 votes per share.1
Class C common stock 3,461,341 No votes.1
Total 17,328,212
1 Each share converts into one share of Class A common stock upon transfer or at the option of the holder, subject to certain conditions, including compliance with FCC rules.
Conference Call
Townsquare Media, Inc. will host a conference call to discuss certain fourth quarter 2022 financial results and 2023 guidance on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
The conference call dial-in number is 1-877-407-0784 (U.S. & Canada) or 1-201-689-8560 (International) and the confirmation code is 13736640. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations page of the Company’s website at www.townsquaremedia.com.
A replay of the conference call will be available through March 16, 2023. To access the replay, please dial 1-844-512-2921 (U.S. and Canada) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and enter confirmation code 13736640. A web-based archive of the conference call will also be available at the above website.
