Saga Enjoys A Strong Finish To ’16

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If one had to select a single media company that has been a star performer on Wall Street in the last six months, Saga Communications would be an exceptional choice.


With its stock up 2% in early trading Tuesday, following the release of a strong Q4 and full-year 2016 earnings report, the company led by Chairman and President/CEO Ed Christian and COO Warren Lada enjoys a Market Cap of $299.2 million and shares that haven’t been this strong in three years.

The owner of TV stations in Joplin, Mo., and Victoria, Tex., and 68 FM and 32 AM radio stations across 26 markets enjoyed Q4 net income of $4.9 million (84 cents per diluted share), up from $35.6 million (63 cents) in the year-ago quarter.

The gains came as net operating revenue improved to $37.3 million, from $35.6 million.

Isolating Saga’s radio segment, net operating revenue jumped to $30.7 million, from $30 million. Operating expenses were statistically flat, slipping to $22 million from $22.1 million.

For the full year, Saga saw its net income move to $18.2 million ($3.09 per diluted share), from $13.4 million ($2.29), as net revenue for 2016 increased to $142.6 million, from $132.9 million.

Political dollars were not broken out by Saga, ahead of its conference call with financial analysts to discuss its results.

It is also not known if Saga participated in the FCC’s spectrum auction.

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