Late Monday Cumulus released “selected preliminary unaudited operating results” for the fourth quarter of 2018 and the full year. In Q4 Cumulus generated just under $310 million in revenue, an increase of about 5%. For the full year Cumulus expects to report net revenue of about $1.14 billion. The company will report actual earnings on March 18.
CEO Mary Berner said despite the distraction of a bankruptcy in 2018, the company was focused on the execution. “We delivered the first full year of revenue growth in four years and the second consecutive year of EBITDA growth, following a five-year decline. Our digital revenue grew over 60% in the year, accelerating each quarter, which supported a string of eight straight quarters of revenue market share gains. As a result of our EBITDA growth and a $50 million voluntary debt prepayment in October, we expect our net leverage at year end will be reduced to approximately 5.2x. And, importantly, we took meaningful steps toward optimizing our portfolio with two recently announced transactions, which will further reduce net leverage. I am exceedingly proud of the entire Cumulus team for delivering on the promises we have made to our stakeholders to date and look forward to more progress in the months and years ahead.”
For the first quarter of 2019, the Company is currently pacing approximately flat, with national and digital strong and local lagging.
