Spanish Broadcasting System doesn’t provide Wall Street with specific forward guidance. But there’s so much optimism at SBS that management gave some pretty big hints in the company’s quarterly conference call.
Auto advertising was an important part of the strong Q4 growth for the SBS radio group and analysts/investors were told that company management is still optimistic about the auto sector. Also, the company is working to get its share of the 2012 election spending, with its stations located in key large markets for Hispanic voters.
Despite the company’s reluctance to give out any numbers in advance, analysts and investors were told that January was good and February was up as well. SBS execs spoke of “nice gains” in local advertising, so look for Q1 to finish flat to up in the single digits.
With all this good news and good momentum, CEO Raul Alarcón is sounding pretty happy these days.
[audio:Raul-Alarcon-033012.mp3|titles= Raul Alarcón]One analyst wanted to know when MegaTV will finally turn cash flow positive. And he got an answer. Look for that to happen in Q3 and Q4 of this year.
RBR-TVBR observation: Despite the unpleasantness of a reverse stock split and fending off a threatened Nasdaq delisting, SBS came out of the travails of 2011 in pretty good shape. Growth in Q3 and Q4, plus the recent refinancing, set the stage for a 2012 that’s going to be more focused on broadcasting and less on dealing with Wall Street.
