TYSONS, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020.1

SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:

• Total company revenue was $578 million in the quarter, up eight percent year-over-year. The increase was driven by acquisitions, continued growth in subscription revenue, and political revenue, partially offset by advertising declines as a result of COVID-19.
• Excluding political advertising, second quarter revenue grew five percent year-over-year.
• Second quarter subscription revenue of $323 million was up 37 percent due to rate increases and acquisitions, reflecting the 50 percent of subscribers repriced in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Due to COVID-19, advertising and marketing services revenue was down 21 percent year-over-year, but increased steadily throughout the quarter; the rate of decline improved by more than 20 percentage points from April to June.
• Despite a highly challenging environment, TEGNA achieved net income of $20 million in the second quarter on a GAAP basis, or $27 million on a non-GAAP basis.
• GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.09 in the second quarter and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.12.
• Total company Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $124 million.
• Free cash flow for the second quarter was $96 million. The Company ended the quarter with total debt of $4.1 billion and net leverage of 4.76x.2

FINANCIAL AND LIQUIDITY UPDATES:

• TEGNA ended the second quarter with $173 million in cash and expects to remain cash flow positive for each quarter for the remainder of the year.
• TEGNA finished the quarter with more than $650 million in undrawn capacity under the revolving credit facility.
• TEGNA paid down $25 million on a term loan maturing in June and now has near-term remaining maturities of $75 million in 2020 and $350 million in the second half of 2021.
• On June 11, 2020 TEGNA amended the leverage covenant in its credit agreement to extend the step-down of the maximum permitted total leverage ratio from 5.50x to 5.25x until March 31, 2022, with additional step downs continuing thereafter as scheduled; the revised terms provide additional financial flexibility given current market conditions.

CEO COMMENT

“Our second quarter performance reflects our ability to execute on TEGNA’s five-pillar strategy in any economic environment. The actions we have taken leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic have positioned TEGNA for continued shareholder value creation, while we also remain focused on all our stakeholders, who rely on us now more than ever. We have continued to serve the greater good by providing critical information to viewers during these challenging times, through our “Facts Not Fear” editorial philosophy,” said Dave Lougee, president and chief executive officer.

“For our shareholders, our second quarter performance is proof that our strategy to build a more diversified, durable business is working. TEGNA remains uniquely positioned for continued subscription revenue growth due to successful negotiations at the end of 2019, receiving top of market Big Four affiliate rates across half of our subscribers with approximately another 35 percent of subscribers up at the end of 2020. We still expect our full year subscription revenue to be up mid-twenties percent. Additionally, we did not see an acceleration in subscription declines from April to May, better than we anticipated at the onset of the pandemic.

“We are also positioned to benefit from anticipated record political advertising spending this year, as races are turning more competitive within the TEGNA footprint, which includes our expanded reach in key battleground states as a result of recently closed acquisitions. Our strong portfolio of Big Four affiliates with strong local news remains the preferred medium to reach targeted constituents, and our stations play a critical role in political marketing strategies. We now expect political revenues to contribute at least $370 million for the full year, an increase from our prior estimate.

“The significant declines in advertising and marketing revenues that began in late March improved by more than 20 percentage points through June, and our sales and marketing teams have innovated with advertisers to adapt to this dynamic environment. Although we can't be certain when the broader advertising industry will fully recover from the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, our long-term value proposition to advertisers remains intact. That includes the relevance and demand for our local platforms which has only grown stronger.

“In the quarter, we continued to act in accordance with our prudent expense management strategy, taking action at the beginning of the pandemic to manage discretionary costs. The result was a nearly $40 million expense reduction from our original plan. The innovation required to operate in this environment has provided us new learnings that will turn into permanent efficiencies. These actions will be combined with the continuous streamlining of our business processes and companywide cost saving initiatives that have been in place well before the recent downturn. Together, these will benefit our cash flows, and long-term health of the business, over time.

“Overall television viewing has expanded across demographics for both daytime and late news time slots. Digital viewership saw an even greater rise in consumption, setting records in 2020 across key digital metrics such as visitors, video plays, and monthly active users. TEGNA reached a record 87 million visitors across owned platforms in March, and is averaging 75 million monthly visitors in 2020, with June the second highest month ever.

“While I am proud of our financial performance, since the onset of COVID-19, our number one priority has been the physical health and safety and emotional and economic wellbeing of our colleagues. Our entire team has shown extraordinary resilience during a time of unprecedented change and national uncertainty. This has allowed us to serve our other key stakeholders - the communities we serve.

“In the wake of the global pandemic, our audiences on all platforms have been appreciative of our “Facts Not Fear” philosophy of editorial coverage, using our VERIFY franchise and great reporting to make facts and context the antidote to the anxiety produced by some national news and social media outlets. On May 25th, in the hometown of our KARE-11 station in Minneapolis, the world changed again, and forever, with the murder of George Floyd. No local journalism company has been more at the local epicenter of this story, shedding light on the nuances between peaceful protests and the small number of non-peaceful incidents across our stations, that include markets with the largest degree of public engagement, including Washington D.C., Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Louisville and Atlanta, and of course Minneapolis.

“At TEGNA, we are committed to taking this seminal moment in American history and doing our part to bring change, beginning with a new process of assessing and holding ourselves accountable for our own recruitment, hiring, development and promotion practices. And we will, in turn, create new accountability for how our powerful local media platforms reflect our communities in our editorial practices and our news products. One example is a recent initiative discussed by our Board of Directors, whereby we are defining specific areas of oversight for each committee around the way that TEGNA approaches diversity across a number of different dimensions.

“Looking forward, we are confident in TEGNA’s ability to perform, even if our economy experiences a slow recovery. During these unprecedented times, we will continue to provide purpose-driven, impactful local journalism to viewers and increase engagement with the communities we serve across all of our platforms.”

OVERVIEW OF SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

Total company revenue increased eight percent in the quarter, driven by acquisitions, continued growth in subscription revenue, and political revenue partially offset by advertising declines as a result of COVID-19.

Subscription revenue grew 37 percent year-over-year due to rate increases and acquisitions, partially offset by subscriber declines.

Advertising and marketing services revenue decreased 21 percent in the quarter compared to last year, due to reduced demand in the quarter from the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. These underlying revenues sequentially improved throughout the quarter since the most significant impact felt at the onset of the pandemic in late March.

GAAP operating expenses were $503 million, up 28 percent, and non-GAAP operating expenses were $487 million, up 24 percent year-over-year. Expenses less programming costs increased 13 percent. The expense increase was predominantly driven by acquisitions and higher programming expenses related to growth in subscription revenues, partially offset by lower cost of sales as a result of lower revenue, as well as reductions in discretionary spending. Companywide cost saving efforts made in the second quarter included payroll savings through a hiring freeze, temporary one-week employee furloughs, pay reductions, suspension of travel and entertainment (T&E) costs, and reduced discretionary operational expenses.

GAAP operating income totaled $75 million, and non-GAAP operating income totaled $90 million in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure detailed in Table 3) totaled $124 million in the quarter and Adjusted EBITDA margin equaled 21.5 percent. Adjusted EBITDA excluding corporate expenses was $137 million, which resulted in a margin of 23.8 percent.

The second quarter included a few special items, the full details of which can be found in Table 2. The net effect of these items was to increase GAAP net income by $7 million and GAAP diluted net income per share by $0.03.

Interest expense in the quarter increased to $52 million compared to $46 million in the second quarter of 2019, due to higher average debt balances as a result of acquisition activity partially offset by a lower average interest rate due to the refinancings undertaken in 2019 and 2020. Total cash at the end of the quarter was $173 million and unused capacity under TEGNA’s revolving credit facility was more than $650 million.

UPDATE ON KEY RECENT STRATEGIC, CONTENT AND PROGRAMMING INITATIVES

• Premion Capitalizes on Over-the-Top (OTT) Ad Growth -- While Premion is affected by the pandemic like all advertising businesses, it is benefiting from the growth of viewing on streaming services and outperformed traditional TV advertising in the quarter. The rollout of our previously announced partnership with Gray is progressing on schedule.

• TEGNA Digital Platforms Achieve Record Audience --In each of April, May and June, TEGNA hit 75+ million unduplicated, multi-platform digital visitors according to Comscore and has been ranked in the Top 50 Digital U.S. Properties for five consecutive months, ranking higher than digital sites such as Reddit, Buzzfeed, and LinkedIn.

• TEGNA Debuts New Audience Engagement Tools -- In the quarter, TEGNA launched “Near Me,” a mobile app feature that allows audience members to share photos and videos and see station-produced and user-generated content down to the neighborhood and street level.

• Expanded Fact-Based Reporting Initiative VERIFY -- From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing through the nationwide protests for racial and civil justice, TEGNA stations have seen a much greater demand for VERIFY content, and have responded to help audiences distinguish between real and false information. In August, VERIFY launched on Snapchat’s Discovery platform, which reaches 88 million daily active users in North America and serves younger audiences.

• VAULT Studios Launches Latest Major Podcast Project -- On May 6, VAULT Studios announced the premiere of SELENA: A STAR DIES IN TEXAS, a six-part podcast series developed in partnership with TEGNA’s Texas stations as a part of our growing true crime initiative. (Press release)

• Justice Network Relaunches as True Crime Network --On July 27, TEGNA's Justice Network, its leading multicast television network, relaunched as True Crime Network, including a free, ad supported OTT streaming service and apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple iOS and Android. (Press release)

• Expansion of Attribution Partnership with Alphonso --On July 8, TEGNA entered into a renewed and expanded partnership with TV data and measurement company Alphonso to include all of Premion, linear and OTT and advertising platforms. The multi-year agreement will continue to provide TEGNA with metrics to help our advertising partners make more informed, data-driven decisions.

• TEGNA Recognized for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism -- TEGNA won 88 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards across 29 stations, more than any other local broadcast television group, for excellence in areas including innovation, multimedia, and social media. Additionally, WUSA9, TEGNA’s CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., won five Gracie Awards from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for exemplary programming created by, for, and about women in media and entertainment. (Press release; press release)

CAPITAL ALLOCATION

TEGNA’s solid balance sheet and the deliberate financing decisions made leading up to and during the recent market instability are the result of a disciplined and flexible capital allocation program. The agreement with lenders to amend TEGNA’s credit agreement to extend the first step-down of the debt coverage covenant by 15 months, before reverting to the normal schedule, provides the Company with additional flexibility in an uncertain market environment. In addition to a continued focus on debt pay-down and the additional flexibility created with the covenant amendment, TEGNA has also continued to return capital to shareholders, including through its regular quarterly dividend payment, the last of which was announced on July 22, 2020. TEGNA continues to evaluate the most appropriate use of capital given the current market environment, with a focus on debt reduction.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 63 television stations in 51 markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network and Quest. TEGNA Marketing Solutions (TMS) offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, email, social and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNA’s OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.