Sinclair Reports Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results

BALTIMORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), the “Company” or “Sinclair,” today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. The results reflect the deconsolidation of the local sports segment comprised of the regional sports networks (RSNs), which are owned and operated by Diamond Sports Group (“DSG”) and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, from the Company’s financial statements and accounted for under equity method of accounting, effective March 1, 2022. As such, the year-to-date 2022 consolidated financial results only include two months results of operations of the local sports segment, while the consolidated financial results for the comparable 2021 periods include results of operations of the local sports segment for the full periods.

Second Quarter Highlights:

• Record second quarter Broadcast & Other total advertising revenue of $366 million, an increase of 11% from the same period a year ago
• Record second quarter political advertising of $54 million
• 1.6 million common shares repurchased
• $118 million par value of the Sinclair Television Group notes due in 2027 repurchased during the quarter at a discount

CEO Comment:

“The strong political environment resulted in the highest second quarter political advertising revenue we have ever experienced,” said Chris Ripley, Sinclair’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “Year-to-date, political advertising revenue is also at all-time record levels, doubling the amount achieved during 2018, the last mid-term election year, and 20% higher than 2020, a Presidential election year. With even higher political ad revenues anticipated for our third and fourth quarters, which are typically the largest quarters for political spend, we believe 2022 political ad revenues could approach 2020’s levels.”

Ripley continued, “With the increased importance and growth of digital revenue, Sinclair continues to prioritize initiatives in this area. Our current average monthly unique users of 80 to 90 million position us well to develop incremental revenue streams in conjunction with digital content offerings, while providing more targeted and interactive opportunities to consumers. We expect to debut a number of new content offerings across our various platforms over the next 12 months that are unique to Sinclair.”

Ripley concluded, “With our securities trading at discounted values, we opportunistically repurchased both our common stock and 2027 Notes, and as announced previously, our Board increased our dividend rate earlier in the year by 25%. We continue to look for ways to bring value to our shareholders.”

Recent Company Developments:

Content and Distribution:

• In May, the Company, leveraging the power of its 200 meteorologists, debuted The National Weather Desk, an extension of its successful The National Desk franchise. Initially, the program launched on social media and in July, expanded to providing content for the Company’s 6am and 6pm newscasts.
• In May, the Company announced its newsrooms received a total of 22 Regional Edward R. Murrow awards, including WGME/Portland, which was honored with the award for Overall Excellence, as well as an award for WCIV/Charleston’s podcast Unsolved Carolina, the first time Sinclair’s podcast content has been honored with a Murrow award.
• In June, the Company announced that its free over-the-air national multicast television networks, COMET, CHARGE! and TBD, will add, by September, over 13 million new TV households to their existing footprints.

NextGen Broadcasting (ATSC 3.0):

• As of the end of July, the Company launched NextGen TV in 32 markets, including recent launches in San Antonio, TX; Fresno-Visalia, CA and Greenville, SC. To date, NextGen TV is available in 60% of the households in Sinclair’s licensed footprint.
• In August, the Company announced it had entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with two top Korean broadcast networks – Korean Broadcast Systems (KBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corp (MBC) – to collaborate on the development and implementation of NextGen broadcast models and technology in both the U.S. and Korea.

ESG:

• In June, the Company launched Sinclair Cares: Summer Hunger Relief, which raised approximately $180,000, including $25,000 from Sinclair, helping provide approximately 1.8 million meals to children and families across the U.S.
• In July, the Company announced it had awarded $50,000 in tuition assistance as part of its annual Diversity Scholarship program, aiming to invest in the future of the broadcast industry while helping students from diverse backgrounds. The program, started in 2013, was expanded nationally this year.

Three Months Ended June 30, 2022 Consolidated Financial Results:

• Total revenues decreased 48% to $837 million versus $1,612 million in the prior year period. Media revenues decreased 48% to $831 million versus $1,600 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding DSG, total revenues increased 5% from $801 million in the prior year period and media revenues also increased 5% from $789 million.
• Total advertising revenues of $366 million decreased 25% versus $491 million in the prior year period. Excluding DSG, total advertising revenues increased 11% from $329 million in the prior year period. Core advertising revenues, which excludes political revenues, were down 36% in the second quarter to $312 million versus $486 million in the prior year period. Excluding DSG, core advertising revenues decreased 3% from $323 million in the prior year period.
• Distribution revenues of $430 million decreased versus $1,078 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding DSG, distribution revenues increased 4% from $412 million in the prior year period.
• Operating income of $107 million, including non-recurring costs for transaction and transition services, COVID, legal, and regulatory costs (“Adjustments”) of $13 million, increased versus an operating loss of $178 million in the prior year period, which included Adjustments of $35 million. Operating income, when excluding the Adjustments, was $120 million compared to an operating loss of $143 million for the same prior year period. Excluding DSG, operating income, excluding Adjustments, decreased 2% from $123 million in the prior year period.
• Net loss attributable to the Company was $11 million versus a net loss of $332 million in the prior year period. Excluding Adjustments, the Company had a net loss of $2 million. Net loss from DSG in the prior year period was $385 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes Adjustments, decreased 58% to $183 million from $433 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA from DSG in the prior year period, excluding Adjustments, was $240 million.
• Diluted loss per common share was $0.17 as compared to diluted loss per common share of $4.41 in the prior year period. On a diluted share basis, the impact of Adjustments was $(0.14), and the impact of Adjustments in the prior year period was $(0.39). Diluted loss per common share from DSG in the prior year period was $5.11.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 Consolidated Financial Results:

• Total revenues decreased 32% to $2,125 million versus $3,123 million in the prior year period. Media revenues decreased 32% to $2,106 million versus $3,097 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding DSG, total revenues increased 6% to $1,669 million from $1,571 million in the prior year period and media revenues increased 7% to $1,650 million from $1,544 million.
• Total advertising revenues of $737 million decreased 15% versus $862 million in the prior year period. Excluding DSG, total advertising revenues increased 9% to $693 million from $635 million in the prior year period. Core advertising revenues, which excludes political revenues, of $666 million, were down 22% versus $853 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding DSG, core advertising revenues decreased 1% to $622 million from $626 million in the prior year period.
• Distribution revenues were $1,303 million versus $2,187 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding DSG, distribution revenues increased 6% to $870 million from $823 million in the prior year period.
• Operating income of $3,573 million, including $19 million of Adjustments and a $3,357 million gain on asset dispositions relating to deconsolidating DSG’s net liability (“Gain on Deconsolidation”), increased versus operating loss of $143 million in the prior year period, which included Adjustments of $67 million. Operating income, when excluding Adjustments and the Gain on Deconsolidation, was $235 million compared to an operating loss of $76 million for the same prior year period. Excluding DSG, operating income excluding Adjustments increased 12% to $237 million from $211 million in the prior year period.
• Net income attributable to the Company was $2,576 million versus net loss of $344 million in the prior year period. Excluding Adjustments and the Gain on Deconsolidation, the Company had net income of $23 million. Net loss from DSG in the prior year period was $555 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes Adjustments, decreased 29% to $437 million from $615 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA from DSG, excluding Adjustments, in the first two months of 2022 was $54 million and in the prior year six month period was $250 million.
• Diluted earnings per common share was $36.00 as compared to diluted loss per common share of $4.59 in the prior year period. On a diluted-per-share basis, the impact of Adjustments was $35.68 and the impact of Adjustments and impairment in the prior year period was $(0.72). Diluted loss per common share from DSG in the prior year period was $7.41.

Consolidated and Segment Highlights

The highlights below include the divestiture of WDKA and KBSI in the Cape Girardeau MO/Paducah KY market (February 1, 2021), the acquisition of ZypMedia (February 5, 2021), the divestiture of the license assets in Harlingen, TX (May 24, 2021), the divestiture of Triangle Sign and Service (June 2, 2021), the divestiture of Sinclair’s radio stations in the Seattle, WA market (September 27, 2021), and the divestiture of Ring of Honor (May 3, 2022).

Segment financial information is included in the following tables for the periods presented. The Broadcast segment consists primarily of broadcast television stations, which the Company owns, operates or to which the Company provides services. The Local Sports segment consists primarily of the RSNs and is included in the second quarter 2021 results only, due to the March 1, 2022 deconsolidation of the segment from the Company’s financial statements. Other and Corporate includes corporate, original networks and content, including Tennis Channel, non-broadcast digital and internet solutions, technical services, and other non-media investments.

Consolidated Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Highlights of the Company:

• Total Company debt as of June 30, 2022 was $4,276 million. During the second quarter, the Company repurchased $118 million par value of Sinclair Television Group notes due 2027 at a $14 million discount.
• Cash and cash equivalents for the Company as of June 30, 2022 was $420 million.
• As of June 30, 2022, 46.5 million Class A common shares and 23.8 million Class B common shares were outstanding, for a total of 70.2 million common shares. During the quarter, the Company repurchased 1.6 million shares.
• In June, the Company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share.
• Routine capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2022 were $24 million.

Notes:

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior years’ financial information to conform to the presentation in the current year.

Outlook:

The Company currently expects to achieve the following results for the three months ending September 30, 2022 and the twelve months ending December 31, 2022. These results do not include the Company’s former Local Sports segment, which was deconsolidated as of March 1, 2022.

Sinclair Conference Call:

The senior management of Sinclair will hold a conference call to discuss the Company’s second quarter 2022 results on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. ET. The call will be webcast live and can be accessed at www.sbgi.net under “Investors/ Webcasts.” After the call, an audio replay will remain available at www.sbgi.net. The press and the public will be welcome on the call in a listen-only mode. The dial-in number is (888) 506-0062, with entry code 124579.

About Sinclair:

Sinclair is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local sports and news. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets; owns multiple national networks including Tennis Channel and Stadium; and has TV stations affiliated with all the major broadcast networks. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital and streaming platforms NewsOn and STIRR. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.

The Company considers Adjusted EBITDA to be an indicator of the operating performance of its assets.

Contacts

Investor Contacts:

Steve Zenker, VP, Investor Relations

Billie-Jo McIntire, AVP, Investor Relations

(410) 568-1500

Media Contact:

Sinclair@5wpr.com

Read full story here