Saga Communications, Inc. Reports 1st Quarter 2017 Results

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich., May 4, 2017

The Company also reported that primarily due to a reduction in political revenue of $1.3 million from the same period last year net revenue decreased 4.1% ($1.3 million) to $31.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.  Station operating expense increased 1.5% to $25.1 million (station operating expense includes depreciation and amortization attributable to the stations).  Operating Income decreased $1.9 million to $3.5 million.  Free cash flow for the quarter was $3.2 million.

Capital expenditures were $1.4 million in the first quarter compared to $1.0 million for the same period last year. The Company expects to spend approximately $5.0 million to $5.5 million for capital expenditures during 2017.

Saga's 2017 1st Quarter call will be on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. EST.  The dial-in number for the call is (612) 288-0337.  A transcript of the call will be posted to the Company's website as soon as it is available after the call.  

The Company requests that all parties that have a question that they would like to submit to the Company to please email the inquiry by 10:00 a.m. EDT on May 4, 2017 to SagaIR@sagacom.com. The Company will discuss, during the limited period of the conference call, those inquiries it deems of general relevance and interest. Only inquiries made in compliance with the foregoing will be discussed during the call.

The attached Selected Supplemental Financial Data tables disclose "actual" and "same station" information by segment as well as the Company's trailing 12 month consolidated EBITDA.  The "actual" amounts reflect our historical financial results and include the results of operations for stations that we did not own for the entire comparable period.  The "same station" amounts reflect only the results of operations for stations that we owned for the entire comparable period.  

Saga utilizes certain financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to assess its financial performance.  Such non-GAAP measures include same station financial information, free cash flow, trailing 12 month consolidated EBITDA, and consolidated net leverage ratio. These non-GAAP measures are generally recognized by the broadcasting industry as measures of performance and are used by Saga to assess its financial performance including, but not limited to, evaluating individual station and market-level performance, evaluating overall operations, as a primary measure for incentive based compensation of executives and other members of management and as a measure of financial position.  Saga's management believes these non-GAAP measures are used by analysts who report on the industry and by investors to provide meaningful comparisons between broadcasting groups, as well as an indicator of their market value.  These measures are not measures of liquidity or of performance in accordance with GAAP, and should be viewed as a supplement to and not as a substitute for the results of operations presented on a GAAP basis including net operating revenue, operating income, and net income. Reconciliations for all of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure are attached in the Selected Consolidated and Supplemental Financial Data tables.