Emmis Communications Q4 Profit Surges - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Emmis Communications Corp. (EMMS) said that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders surged to $33.16 million from last year's $4.32 million, with earnings per share improving to $0.71 from $0.11 in the year ago quarter.

During the fourth fiscal quarter, Emmis reversed substantially all of the valuation allowance previously recorded against its deferred tax assets. As a result, Emmis recorded a benefit for income taxes of approximately $35 million in the quarter.

For the fourth fiscal quarter, operating income was $0.7 million, compared to a loss of $0.4 million for the same quarter of the prior year. Emmis' station operating income for the fourth fiscal quarter was $6.9 million, compared to $7.1 million for the same quarter of the prior year. The decrease in station operating income in the fourth fiscal quarter was due in part to recognition of incentive compensation expense based on full-year operating results that were achieved based on strong fourth quarter results, as well as several non-recurring items, including $0.7 million in severance associated with the integration of WBLS and WLIB.

Emmis' radio net revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter were up 11%, from $29.1 million to $32.4 million. Excluding 98.7FM in New York, which is being programmed by ESPN pursuant to an LMA, radio net revenues were up 12%. These results outperformed Emmis' local radio markets in which revenue growth improved 4% during the quarter.

Total net revenues for the quarter grew to $46.97 million from $43.30 million in the prior year quarter.