| Source: Lee Enterprises Inc.
Davenport, Iowa, UNITED STATES
Adjusted EBITDA(1) grew 17% YOY in the quarter, in line with full year guidance
Achieved all digital revenue guidance for the quarter and for the fiscal year
Digital-only subscribers total 532,000 (+32% YOY)
Amplified Digital® revenue totaled $76M in the fiscal year (+83% YOY)
DAVENPORT, Iowa, Dec. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: LEE), a digital-first subscription platform providing high quality, trusted, local news, information and a major platform for advertising in 77 markets, today reported preliminary fourth quarter fiscal 2022 financial results(2) for the period ended September 25, 2022.
“Lee delivered strong fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 results accelerating our execution of the Three Pillar Digital Growth Strategy,” said Kevin Mowbray, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We exceeded all our revenue and digital subscription guidance, and Adjusted EBITDA was in line with our guidance.
Mowbray added, “Lee remains the fastest growing digital subscription platform in media with 32% digital subscriber growth, and Amplified Digital® remains the fastest growing digital marketing agency solution with 82% revenue growth in the quarter. I am really encouraged at the pace of Lee’s digital transformation as our results and execution place us well on our way to achieving our long-term goals.”
Key Fourth Quarter Highlights:
Key Fiscal Year 2022 Highlights:
2023 Fiscal Year Outlook:
Debt and Free Cash Flow:
The Company has $463 million of debt outstanding under our Credit Agreement(4) with BH Finance. The financing has favorable terms including a 25-year maturity, a fixed annual interest rate of 9.0%, no fixed principal payments, and no financial performance covenants.
As of and for the period ended September 25, 2022:
Conference Call Information:
As previously announced, we will hold an earnings conference call and audio webcast today at 9 a.m. Central Time. The live webcast will be accessible at www.lee.net and will be available for replay 24 hours later. Analysts have been invited to ask questions on the call. Questions from other participants may be submitted by participating in the webcast. To participate in the live conference call via telephone, please register here. Upon registering, a dial-in number and unique PIN will be provided to join the conference call.
Annual Report on Form 10-K:
We anticipate we will not be able to file our Annual Report on Form 10-K within the prescribed period of time without unreasonable effort or expense primarily due to additional time required to complete our assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to file within the 15 calendar day extension period. Management does not anticipate this continued evaluation to have any material impact on the preliminary financial results included in this earnings release.
About Lee:
Lee Enterprises is a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news and information, with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and over 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Year to date, Lee’s newspapers have average daily circulation of 1.0 million, and our legacy websites, including acquisitions, reach more than 38 million digital unique visitors. Lee’s markets include St. Louis, MO; Buffalo, NY; Omaha, NE; Richmond, VA; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit www.lee.net.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS — The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. This release contains information that may be deemed forward-looking that is based largely on our current expectations, and is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Among such risks, trends and other uncertainties, which in some instances are beyond our control, are:
Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “aim”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “projects”, “considers” and similar expressions) generally should be considered forward-looking statements. Statements regarding our plans, strategies, prospects and expectations regarding our business and industry, including statements regarding the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic and our responses thereto may have on our future operations, are forward-looking statements. They reflect our expectations, are not guarantees of performance and speak only as of the date the statement is made. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this release. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Contact:
IR@lee.net
(563) 383-2100
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(UNAUDITED)
DIGITAL / PRINT REVENUE COMPOSITION
(UNAUDITED)
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(UNAUDITED)
The table below reconciles the non-GAAP financial performance measure of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, its most directly comparable GAAP measure:
The table below reconciles the non-GAAP financial performance measure of Cash Costs to Operating expenses, the most directly comparable GAAP measure:
NOTES
(1) The following are non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measures for which reconciliations to relevant GAAP measures are included in tables accompanying this release:
(2) This earnings release is a preliminary report of results for the periods included. The reader should refer to the Company’s most recent reports on Form 10-Q and on Form 10-K for definitive information.
(3) Total Digital Revenue in the prior year was reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. Total Digital Revenue is defined as digital advertising and marketing services revenue (including Amplified Digital®), digital-only subscription revenue and digital services revenue. Previously other digital subscription revenue was included. All periods have been restated for the reclassification.
(4) The Company’s debt is the $576 million term loan under a credit agreement with BH Finance LLC dated January 29, 2020 (the “Credit Agreement”). Excess Cash Flow is defined under the Credit Agreement as any cash greater than $20,000,000 on the balance sheet in accordance with GAAP at the end of each fiscal quarter, beginning with the quarter ending June 28, 2020.
(5) TNI refers to TNI Partners publishing operations in Tucson, AZ. MNI refers to Madison Newspapers, Inc. publishing operations in Madison, WI.
