- Gannett (NYSE:GCI) is down 14% in premarket trading after the company reported 4.3% Y/Y decline in fourth quarter's same store revenues.
- Total revenues of $826.5M (-5.6% Y/Y). It included 33% of digital revenue that stood at $272.6M (+5% Y/Y).
- Adjusted EBITDA totaled $115.4M (-22.5% Y/Y); Adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.0%.
- Digital-only paid subscribers were up 49% compared to the prior year quarter and exceeded 1.6M at the end of the 4Q21.
- Cash used for operating activities of $5.9M and free cash flow usage of $18.2M.
- The company ended the quarter with $130.8M in cash and cash equivalents.
- "In addition, we repaid over $235 million in debt during 2021, and through two refinancing efforts, lowered our cost of debt to approximately 5.8% and our first lien net leverage has dropped to 1.7x at year end," noted Chairman and CEO Michael Reed.
- FY 2022 Outlook: The company expects Revenue to range between $3.07-$3.16B, same-store revenue growth of (2)% to +1%; Net Income of $50-$70M; Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $380-$400M; and Free cash flow to be in the range of $160-$180M.
- Q1 2022 Outlook: Revenue to be between $745-$755M; same-store revenue growth of (3)% to (1)%; Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $55-60M; and Net Income of ~($5M).
- "We expect to surpass 2 million paid digital subscribers this year, and to grow at an annual rate of approximately 40% through 2025," said Reed.
- Earlier (Feb. 1): Gannett announces $100M in share repurchase, amends credit agreement