Just eight days after Entravision Communications released its delayed Q4 and fiscal 2018 financial report, the company focused on Hispanic media consumers released its Q1 2019 results.
The verdict? The TV division saw double-digit growth.
Let’s not talk about Radio and Digital.
For the three-month period ending March 31, Entravision saw its TV division revenue rise by 11%, to $38.3 million.
At the same time, Digital revenue — now it’s second-biggest profit driver behind TV — plummeted by 21%, to $14.5 million.
Radio? Revenue slumped by 15%, to $12 million.
As a result, Entravision’s overall net revenue decreased to $64.7 million from $66.8 million.
Of the overall decrease, approximately $3.8 million was attributable to the digital segment and was primarily due to declines in both international and domestic revenue.
“The decline in revenue is driven by a trend whereby revenue is shifting more to automated self-service platforms, referred to in our industry as programmatic revenue,” Entravision explained.
Further, $2.1 million of the overall decrease was attributable to Entravision’s radio segment and was primarily due to decreases in local and national advertising revenue, as a result in part of ratings declines and “changing demographic preferences of audiences and a trend for advertising to move increasingly from traditional media, such as radio, to new media, such as digital media.”
For the TV division, it was national ad revenue, not local, along with revenue from spectrum usage rights that brought Entravision’s lone bright spot in an otherwise bleak Q1.
Walter F. Ulloa, Entravision’s Chairman/CEO, said, “Our first quarter results were impacted by declines in our radio and digital segments compared to the prior year. However, we did achieve growth in our television segment over the first quarter of 2018. We continue to maintain a solid balance sheet and return capital to our shareholders through our share repurchase program and dividend. Looking ahead, we remain well positioned to build on our success in further attracting Latino and other audiences worldwide, as we execute our multiplatform strategy to the benefit of our shareholders.”
Still, Entravision swung from a net loss of $1.8 million (-2 cents per share) to profit of $1.42 million (2 cents).
Investors reacted somewhat positively, sending EVC up 16 cents to $3.06 in Thursday’s trading on Wall Street.
On May 2, Entravision stock hit a fresh five-year low of $2.71.
