Audacy posted an operating loss of $135.3 million in the second business quarter.
Coming on top of an operating loss of $12.2 million in Q1, the company has lost about $147.5 million in the first six months of the year. For context, in all of 2022 the company had an operating loss of $73.7 million.
The company released its latest numbers without holding the usual call with business analysts.
It has been a rough few months for Audacy, which is one of the biggest U.S. radio owners, with about 230 stations in 46 markets.
At the end of June it instituted a reverse stock split in which every 30 shares of its common stock was combined into one share. It had seen its stock delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because of its consistent low price; it currently trades over the counter. Marketwatch lists the decline in its stock price for the past year at about 93%.
The media company says that in Q2, its net revenues were down 6.6% compared to the period a year earlier, to $298.5 million. Revenue was dragged by a drop of more than 16% in national spot business, while local spot fell 3.7%. Digital revenues were down 4% to $66.7 million.
Company leader David J. Field said the revenue decline reflects challenging ad market conditions. “During the quarter, we saw accelerated growth across certain of our key performance metrics including radio revenue share, station audience ratings and digital platform usage. We also made meaningful progress on our ad tech and ad product roadmap as we work to develop important new pools of digital demand and growth.”
Field said, “We have initiated discussions with our lenders to enhance our balance sheet and establish a strong financial footing to enable the company to capitalize on its growth opportunities. … Ad market conditions remain challenging, but have stabilized entering the third quarter.”
During the second quarter, the company completed the sale of FM stations in Memphis and Buffalo.
The company expects total revenues to continue pacing down in the third quarter by mid-single digits, with national spot revenue continuing to be a drag. Digital revenues have a better outlook, pacing 7% up.
