That was the statement from John Abbot, Cumulus’ Chief Financial Officer, who’s been on the job now for four months. And, he’s been spending the majority of his time trying to deal with that debt, which is $2 billion.
Abbot said it’s real and it must be addressed. “We are reviewing all available options that will give us enough runway to turn around the business.” CEO Mary Berner had the following to say about the balance sheet.
Berner said the company is continuing its dialogue with key stakeholders to explore strategies intended to reduce debt. “There are significant challenges in regards to the balance sheet and the operational and P&L impact from our over-levered capital structure is real and will continue to limit our turnaround potential.”
Also in the quarter, Cumulus had an expense of $14.4 million, including a $13.3 million settlement with CBS over long-standing contract disputes. Cumulus has had a long relationship with CBS for content. The company also took in $110 million for land sold in Los Angeles. The planned sale of land in Washington DC is expected to close in late 2017 and bring in about $75 million.
We just had an election where people were clear about “all talk, no action”…. we keep hearing the same thing from Cumulus. How is the culture better when you continue to lose? Your head of radio programming is an old establishment member, who continues to spend mountains of cash in outdated, un-productive radio contesting. There have been NO bold changes. Investors should be pissed, they continue to get plenty of “the culture is changing” talk…. no results, though. None.