“If you’ve ever had any Latin in high school or college, you may be able to translate this, the phrase goes like this, finis origine pendet – or the end hangs on the beginning.” That’s how Saga Communications CEO Chris Forgy ended the company’s Q2 earnings call. While optimism has been in short supply in the latest rounds of broadcasters’ quarterly reports, the leader says he is “giddy” for the future.
In Q2, Saga Communications saw a slight dip in net operating revenue, falling to $29.18 million from $29.82 million. The company’s lone analyst had expected revenue to reach $28.7 million. Although station operating expenses increased, rising to $22.41 million from $21.79 million, which slightly offset the revenue figures.
The end result was a modest decrease in net income, moving to $3.35 million ($0.55 per share), down from $3.82 million ($0.63 per share). This still surpassed the Saga analyst’s anticipated EPS of $0.48.
Saga Communications’ balance sheet also displayed $34.4 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, with $38.3 million as of August 7. The company forecasts spending between $5 million and $5.5 million on capital expenditures in 2023.
During the call, CFO Sam Bush said Q3 outlook, “Continues to be variable, and I probably could say volatile as well because it seems like we look at it one week and it’s up doing better, one week gets down, doing worse and it just keeps bouncing back and forth. For the quarter, we are currently pacing down low to mid-single digits.”
Which bring us back to the Latin lesson. “Your actions today will impact your future outcomes,” said Forgy. He praised the completion of forming a revamped leadership team for Saga and said the company will continue to lean into the economic headwinds of whatever lies ahead.
Sure do miss the “Ed-isms”. Those cute little sayings the former CEO used quite often. You’re good Chris, but I’d just not Ed. 😀