The nation’s No. 1 audio content creation and distribution company on Tuesday afternoon released its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 earnings.
How did iHeartMedia perform in the final three months of last year? Revenue was up, but its net income declined — largely due to an income tax benefit seen in Q4 2021.
Negating that line item, Adjusted EBITDA was up 7.3% year-over-year, powered by that 6% revenue gain.
Revenue jumped to $1.126 billion from $1.062 billion in Q4, while operating income improved to $172.84 million from $122.98 million.
Unlike other companies in the media space, iHeart took a small impairment charge in the quarter, of $160,000.
As such, the adjusted EBITDA for iHeartMedia in Q4 rose to $315.64 million from $294.17 million.
And, because of that income tax benefit difference between Q4 2022 and Q4 2021, net income declined to $79.88 million from $111.63 million.
On an annual basis, however, iHeartMedia’s net loss widened, growing to $262.67 million from $158.39 million.
Here’s the good news: full-year adjusted EBITDA climbed to $950.29 million from $811.33 million.
Furthermore, Free Cash Flow was higher. In Q4, it came in at $164.97 million, rising from $51.94 million.
Breaking out the revenue by category, here is how iHeart’s balance sheet looks:
What about by revenue stream? While Podcast revenue climbed by 17%, and Broadcast Radio revenue was statistically flat, the latter still represents the bulk of the company’s dollar intake.
What’s to come for iHeartMedia, which began its quarterly earnings call for analysts and investors at RBR+TVBR’s Tuesday news deadline of 4:30pm Eastern?
First quarter 2023 consolidated revenue is expected to decrease by approximately mid-single digits, with January down approximately 1%.
As such, Q1 ’23 consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $80 million-$90 million.
And, the company remains committed to reaching its long-term target of approximately 4x net leverage. Net debt stands at $5.078 million.
