Cumulus Media is reporting a revenue decline for its latest business quarter, but it also is highlighting its recent debt management strategies.
The company said total net revenue in the second quarter fell 2.5% compared to the same period a year ago, to $204.8 million. Digital revenue grew 5% while broadcast radio revenue was down 7.3%.
The company saw a net loss of $27.7 million in the quarter, compared to a net loss of $1.1 million a year ago.
For the six months ended June 30, Cumulus reported net revenue of $404.9 million, down 2.6% from a year earlier, and lost $41.9 million compared to a loss of $22.5 million a year earlier.
Cumulus is the third-largest U.S. commercial radio group by revenue, according to BIA Advisory Services estimates.
President/CEO Mary Berner said in the announcement that the advertising environment is challenging.
“However, our unrelenting focus on areas of the business that are in our control helped us to mitigate the impact of soft demand while also driving tangible progress in key priority areas. During the quarter, we grew our digital marketing services business by 24%; reduced fixed costs by $4 million; and continued to strengthen our balance sheet through the successful completion of our exchange offer, ABL upsizing, and the buyback of a portion of our remaining 2026 maturity debt.”
Cumulus noted that it recently completed a “highly successful” debt exchange that reduced its obligations by approximately $33 million, extended maturities to 2029, obtained favorable interest rates and preserved a structure free of financial maintenance covenants.
The company still has a lot of debt. Its total now stands at $674.4 million. Earlier this year Berner said successful restructuring has taken some of the pressure off of its debt burdens. She said then that the changes had given the company additional time and flexibility to meet its goals.
