Newspaper & Mailroom

Tribune Company Reports First Quarter 2014 Results

Wednesday 21. May 2014 - Revenue increases 21% and Adjusted EBITDA increases 37%

Tribune Company (the “Company” or “We”; OTC:TRBAA) today reported its results for the first quarter ended March 30, 2014.  The condensed consolidated financial statements along with management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are available in the Financial Information section of the Company’s corporate website, www.tribune.com, and on the Company’s investor relations app.
Q1 Highlights
Consolidated revenue +21% compared to the 1st quarter of 2013
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA +37% compared to the 1st quarter of 2013
Completed the acquisition of Gracenote on January 31, 2014
Company Results
Consolidated revenues in the first quarter of 2014 were $852.2 million compared to $705.0 million in the first quarter of 2013, representing an increase of $147.2 million, or 21%.  The acquisition of Local TV increased revenues by $144.8 million.
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA increased to $297.9 million in the first quarter of 2014 from $216.9 million in the first quarter of 2013.  The increase was primarily due to the acquisition of Local TV and an increase in cash distributions from equity investments, partially offset by costs incurred in the initial stages of establishing Tribune Digital Ventures and an increase in Corporate expenses.
Cash distributions from equity investments in the quarter were $120.3 million, which included a $12.4 million one-time receipt from TV Food Network relating to a management fee dispute that was settled in December 2013. The distributions received in the same period in 2013 were $89.9 million.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting revenues were $398.4 million in the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 67% or $159.2 million as compared to $239.2 million in the first quarter of 2013.
Broadcasting Adjusted EBITDA was $139.1 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $79.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 75%.
Pro forma for acquisition of Local TV (see attached quarterly pro forma financial disclosures)(1)
Pro forma for the acquisition of Local TV, Broadcasting revenues were $398.4 million in the first quarter of 2014 compared to $369.3 million in the first quarter of 2013.  This represents an increase of $29.1 million or 7.9%. Retransmission consent revenues in the quarter were $55.6 million, compared to $29.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, an increase of $26.0 million, or 88%.  Advertising revenues increased to $304.3 million in the first quarter of 2014 as compared with $300.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, representing an increase of $3.7 million, or 1.2%.  Political advertising revenues accounted for $1.4 million of this increase.
Pro forma for the acquisition of Local TV, Broadcasting Adjusted EBITDA was $139.1 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $130.1 million in the first quarter of 2013.  The increase was driven by the growth in the TV Station group including the acquisition of Local TV, of $26.4 million, offset primarily by declines in WGN America resulting from increased production and promotion investments associated with new programming, and costs incurred in the initial stages of establishing Tribune Studios.
Publishing
Publishing segment revenues in the first quarter of 2014 were $453.8 million, compared to $465.9 million in the first quarter of 2013, a decline of $12.1 million or 2.6%.  This decline was primarily attributable to declines in advertising revenue of $19.3 million and declines in revenues from commercial printing and delivery services of $4.1 million, offset by increases in other revenues largely resulting from the acquisition of Gracenote in the quarter.
Publishing Adjusted EBITDA was $55.8 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $58.0 million in the first quarter of 2013, a decline of 3.8%. Adjusted EBITDA in the newspaper businesses was essentially flat, while costs incurred in the initial stages of establishing Tribune Digital Ventures negatively impacted the year-over-year comparison.
Commenting on the first quarter results, Peter Liguori, Tribune Company President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “In the first quarter of 2014 we demonstrated early signs of the strength of our new broadcast scale. As a consolidated business with the Local TV stations, revenues generated by retransmission consent fees hit an all-time high for the Company — growing 88% compared to last year. We are also encouraged by the activity we are seeing in the political landscape and its prospects for advertising for the second half of 2014. Programming and branding investments on WGN America resulted in the successful launch of the network’s first original series, Salem, in April, which delivered the highest ratings for the network in seven years. We also scaled our metadata competencies through the acquisition of Gracenote in the quarter. Additionally, our newspapers continued to deliver very good results in a challenging environment, and we are confident in the prospects for that business as we move closer to spinning it off from Tribune Company. We remain focused on achieving our objective to drive profitable growth in each of our businesses.”
TRIBUNE is one of the country’s leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing, and interactive. The company’s broadcasting group owns or operates 42 television stations, WGN America on national cable, the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV, Tribune Studios and Chicago’s WGN-AM. In publishing, Tribune’s leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide audience.