Earnings Labs

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC)

Q1 2008 Earnings Call· Tue, May 13, 2008

$3.77

-1.95%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and Welcome to the Entravision Communications Corporation First Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Thursday, May 1, 2008. I would now like to turn the conference over to Walter Ulloa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead sir.

Walter Ulloa - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Management

Thank You, Ken. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Entravision's first quarter 2008 earnings conference call. Joining me today on the call Philip Wilkinson, our President and COO and John DeLorenzo, Executive Vice President and CFO, and Chris Young the President of our Outdoor Division, who will succeed John as Executive Vice President and CFO after May 9th. Before we begin, I must inform you that this conference will contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Please refer to our SEC filings for the list of those risks and uncertainties that could impact actual results. In addition, this call is a property of Entravision Communications Corporation. Any redistribution, or retransmission or rebroadcast of this call in any form, without the express written consent of Entravision Communications Corporation is strictly prohibited. Also this call will include certain non-GAAP financial measures. The company has provided a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in today's press release. The press release is available on the company's website and was filed with the SEC in a Form 8-K. In addition with the announced sale of the Company's Outdoor Division at March 31, 2008. Outdoor was classified as a discontinued operation and the results of operations are separately reported for all periods presented. We began 2008 in a challenging environment for our Television and radio businesses, due to a difficult advertising market and strong comparisons from the year-ago period, when our television and radio revenue was up 8% and 14% respectively. Despite these challenges, we remained uniquely positioned to capitalize on the expanding power of the US expanding consumer market and have proactively undertaken a number of revenue and cost initiatives to ensure we are maximizing our cash flow…

John DeLorenzo - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Management

Thank you, Walter and good afternoon everyone. The company previously announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to sell it's Outdoor Advertising Division to Lamar Advertising Company for $100 million. The transactions which is subject to customary closing requirements is expected to close this month. Upon closing of the transaction, the company will no longer have outdoor operations. In accordance with SFAS 144, accounting for the impairment on disposal of long lived assets, the company reported results of our outdoor operations and discontinued operations within the statement of operations. As the outdoor unit, has been included in discontinued operation, the following results do not include the Outdoor segment. As Walter has discussed, net revenue for the quarter was $55.7 million down 2%. Operating expenses increased 1% to $35.4 million and consolidated adjusted EBITDA decreased 13% to 15 million. Free cash flow, which we defined as consolidated adjusted EBITDA minus capital expenditures, cash interest, cash taxes, plus interest income was $0.03 cents per share. Operating expenses increased to $35.4 million for the quarter from 35 million an increase of $400,000. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in wages, syndication amortization and rent expense partially offset by a decrease in national representation fees and other expenses associated with the decrease in net revenue. Corporate expenses decreased to $4.5 million for the quarter from $4.6 million a decrease of 100,000. The decrease is primarily attributable to a decrease in non-cash stock based compensation. Free cash flow for the first quarter of 2008 was $2.7 million or $0.03 per share. EPS for the first quarter of 2008 was negative $0.08 per share compared to an EPS of negative $0.03 per share in the first quarter of '07. The negative $0.08 per share was lower than our guidance of [zero cents] per…

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. (Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from the line of Victor Miller of Bear Stearns. Please go ahead.

Victor Miller

Analyst

Good morning. Thanks for taking the call. Thank you John for your service. The auto, in terms of Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3 as you go into second quarter, it seems to be -- people of the other TV companies are saying that they are seeing anywhere between -- obviously no improvement in the auto category, but maybe some modest improvement. I just wanted to see what you are see there? Secondly, can you talk about your ratings in LA, specifically in the radio stations there and the impact that might be having on 1Q and 2Q? And lastly, any process updates on retransmission consent negotiations which you're going to work with maybe with Univision? Thanks.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Victor, it’s Walter. I'll take the first two -- the last two parts of the question, then Phil is going to comment on the automotive business. As far as the retransmission agreement process goes, we've had several discussions with Univision related to our retransmission strategy for this next cycle starting in 2009. Although we have not reached an agreement with Univision to join with them in this effort we have made a lot of progress in this endeavor. We continue to believe that working with Univision will result in an even more successful retransmission negotiation with both companies. We expect to have more to report on this issue later on in the second quarter or by our next investor conference call in August. Just to comment on Los Angeles that was a question you asked about and we are talking about the winter book, was that the question?

Victor Miller

Analyst

Yeah, just the ratings trends there and what impact it might have had on the overall radio numbers?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Well, there's no question that our radio numbers were impacted in the first quarter by prior ratings. That said, we believe we're certainly on the right track as we speak here with the changes that we've made in Los Angeles, particularly as it relates to Super Estrella. We're facing a tough television, I mean radio environment in Los Angeles. We believe the markets have been impacted by a decrease in spot radio revenue. The competition is fierce and therefore, we are working ourselves and all of the people that we work with, as hard as possible to get back on track with our ratings in Los Angeles. We have seen improvement as a result of this last book in every one of our demos and we think that these improvements are significant. As you know, it takes about six months to generate, anywhere from three to six months to generate, revenue as a result of the increase in ratings but we believe that we're on the right track and on the road to getting Super Estrella particularly turned around. Phillip, you want to comment on the automotive?

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

Thanks, Walter. Hi Victor.

Victor Miller

Analyst

Hi Wilkinson.

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

I think you had a question about tier 1, 2, 3 and the impact or if we see any improvement and the answer is, yes. On the TV side, we had a tough first quarter than the auto industry. I think as Walter had mentioned, we had a difficult start. Ford had a creative delay and GM had a national agency review for the Chevy dealers association. So we really had a soft January national as a result, it kind of set us back, but we've seen improvement in April. And I can only give you up through as of today's numbers, but we've -- we're still in the negative on the auto side, but we saw about a 12, 13% point improvement. And we're single, low single, mid-digits on negative on the auto. So it has improved but it's still very tough out there. We track the Polk data, which is the new car registrations, and we see about a little over two-thirds of all of our markets where we do business. As of February, year-over-year, auto sales are down double digits in a lot of our markets. So absent New England, which is kind of a useless situation, and Boston, Harford, and absent the kind of that oil booming cities of Texas where they're selling a lot of cars. But aside from those markets, we see that the sales are down and the sales impact the ad budget clearly so, but we do see a bit of improvement. It's not as dismal as it was in first quarter and we hope that continues, certainly April has improved significantly.

Victor Miller

Analyst

And just a reminder, your auto business was up significantly I believe last year in 1Q and 2Q. Is that right and really started to tail off third and fourth?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Yeah, exactly. We had tough comps first and second quarter on auto, but we…

Victor Miller

Analyst

And you were plus about 20 in TV in both quarters I remember something like that?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

That number I'd have to look up for you and get it back to you. I don't think it was that strong, but it was very positive story in the first half of the year and then we saw, of course, the subprime thing slow quite a bit down and all categories and consumer spending and by August, September. But the first…

Victor Miller

Analyst

Thank you.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

But the first, tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 here in April have all shown improvements across the board. Okay, operator?

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. Our next question comes from the line of Tony Wible of Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Tony Wible

Analyst

Good evening gentlemen. I was hoping we could just dig into I guess the radio EBITDA being down. Is that just a function of weakness on the revenue side or was there anything else within that that would have caused some of the margin pressure?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

That's a function of the weakness on the revenue side. John, you want to comment?

John DeLorenzo

Analyst

Yes, it was basically all weakness there. We had a little bit of -- pretty much our expenses were below what they typically would have been. We've been managing them into the bad quarters. So no, it's completely about revenue.

Tony Wible

Analyst

Got you. And is there any way to explain some of the difference, I guess, between the TV and the radio side with the national because I think I heard you correctly that TV national is down 5, but radio national was up 12. Is that just a function of comps being a little bit different in the radio side?

John DeLorenzo

Analyst

Yeah, I don't think it's so much a difference of comps. Both divisions had strong first quarters in 2007. In our television business, national is a much bigger factor, it's about 50% of our total revenue. And in our radio business, local is a much bigger factor and national is only about 25% of our total revenue. So even though they're both media, they target the Hispanic market, they're different in terms of how national business comes in.

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

We're also seeing a number of new accounts on the national radio side as a result of shoring up our sales effort in the different offices around the country and taking advantage of some national dollars out there that we perhaps didn't, well I know that we didn't get in the past.

Tony Wible

Analyst

Got you. And Walter, what are your thoughts on PPM as we head into the LA market in September '08? Are you anticipating the rate benchmarking in that market to account for the demo?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Well, we're concerned about the challenges that have come to surface with PPM. We still believe that this electronic measurement is a far better method of measuring audience than the diary, but we're particularly concerned about the Hispanic panel size, sample performance, fluctuations, language waiting and the metrics that Arbitron is using to determine what is acceptable panel performance. Our challenge is that, while Houston most closely mirrors our markets, the methodology being used is different than that used in New York, Philadelphia and any of the to-be-released markets. So we're certainly monitoring the process. As I indicated to you, we are concerned. Jeff Lieberman, our President is involved or he is going to participate in a couple of committees here to better monitor how PPM is implemented in Los Angeles.

Tony Wible

Analyst

Okay. Last question is, any color you can shed on the Televista Univision dispute? And in particular what I am trying to figure out is I know you can't provide comments specifically, but is there kind of a contingency plan or how we can think about best case, worst case scenario?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Well, as you know we're not a part of that litigation. We're optimistic that the parties can resolve the matter in a favorable way and we still believe that will happen. We don't know anything about the details, but certainly the fact that the trial has been postponed, I think it is a good sign. So, we remain optimistic that will be resolved and that there won't be any issues related to programming going forward.

Tony Wible

Analyst

Great, thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. Our next question comes from the line of Marci Ryvicker. Please go ahead.

Marci Ryvicker

Analyst

Thank you, John, you will be missed. Thank you for your services also. I have two questions. The first is your guidance for the second quarter is basically the same as it was for the first quarter with revenue expected to decline by low to mid-single digits. Now given that you're down 2% in the first quarter and I take that to be low single digits, is there anything you're seeing right now that would suggest you would come in at the low end of range for the quarter? Are you building in cushion for weaker economy or is there something else? I know that there was the LA concert that was in Q2 of last year and Q3 of this year, so there's a tough comp, but is there anything else?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

That's where I was going to go with the, it's basically about the comp at Reggaeton in the second quarter last year, which is typically in the third quarter. But other than that, that's just about where we see the market in terms of pacing and where we think we'll be. But hopefully that'll change by the quarter is over and we'll be a able to surprised.

Marci Ryvicker

Analyst

Okay. And is there any change in your free cash flow priorities between share repurchases, M&A, debt pay down? Anything else?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

We mentioned we did finish our $100 million stock buy back that was initiated in November '06 and we put a brand new one in place in April this year. And we have been buying in the second quarter and we hope to aggressively still find opportunities to buy back our shares at reasonable prices. And as you know, we're always looking to enhance our existing cluster and more radio where we have television radio. So we're still looking and hopefully we'll be able to see some opportunities as the M&A market is a little soft out there.

Marci Ryvicker

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lee Westerfield of BMO Capital. Please go ahead.

Lee Westerfield

Analyst

Yeah, thanks gentlemen. Good evening. Actually I wanted to just follow up and that's almost housekeeping now and follow onto the bit about the Reggaeton. So what was the impact last year in the second quarter specifically from the LA concert that shifted in Q3?

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

1.2 million of revenues that is moving this year to Q3.

Lee Westerfield

Analyst

And any significant margin difference that we should take into account for that same shift in revenue?

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

Well, we're looking at probably the margin on that was probably about 40%.

Lee Westerfield

Analyst

Yeah.

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

On that [$8 million].

Lee Westerfield

Analyst

Okay. You touched on everything else. So thank you gentlemen, thank you very much.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Thanks Lee.

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Wienkes of Goldman Sachs.

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Great, thank you. What's if you could tell us your approximate book to budget right now and how it's comping versus the past couple of quarters? Has it changed at all? And then just digging into that local versus national issue some more. I guess outside of auto can you speak to any different trends that you're seeing again local versus national from the different categories?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

The first question Mark was how is our pacing?

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Yeah. Like how much business is on the books today versus over the past few quarters?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

As a last year?

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Net booking earlier or later?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Our forecast or I should say our guidance what we call our low and high or about 79% of our guidance and that's where we were last year.

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Okay.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

And the second part of the question?

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Just on local versus national. I guess you talked about last year, local TV, radio, local part of outdoors really strong. National is weak. This year seems to be reversed. I guess the drivers that are causing that disparity across the businesses? And then if you could comment on outdoor, I know it's now in discontinued ops, but are the trends there the same with respect to a weak local or strong national or stronger national?

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

Well, this is Phillip, Mark. As far as the TV local, we obviously finished a little better than our national we are plus two, international ended up minus five and as I mentioned to you we have kind of a tough start particularly on the auto side and into that specifically two major US auto makers that kind of drag us down there in January for national, but all in all that minus 2 was plus 2 local and a minus 5 national for the quarter on TV at first. Pace wise, we're showing continued growth and strength in local. And local is really where we have the relationships with the local retailers and clients and we can impact the business a less of a process there with the agencies. It's more of a relationship sale with the clients that our ample pace is high single digits on the local side, but we did see national come back here for the TV side of single mid digits. So it's a marked improvement over first that’s the trend that’s for April, and then on the radio side, it's much of the same that we saw in first. We've got a stronger national story than we do local, but I think as Walter had mentioned to you, it's a smaller part of our overall mix of the business, so it's a little bit easier to impact the smaller number and positive growth.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

And in regards to outdoor, we had actually a terrific quarter in both local and national and outdoor. And that's outdoor.

Mark Wienkes

Analyst

Okay. That's great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. Our next question comes from the line of David Miller of SMA Capital.

David Miller

Analyst

Hey guys, good afternoon. Walter, I just wanted to make sure I'm clear on what you guys intend to do with the windfall from the Lamar sale? I was under the impression three months ago when you guys issued your fourth quarter numbers that at least directionally the way you were thinking about it was that you were going to use at least a very large percentage of the net proceeds for debt reduction, you seemed to have backed off from that in your prepared remarks. I am wondering if you can comment, I just want to make sure I heard you correctly? Thank you.

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

I think the debt reduction comment was more by the analyst side than the company side. I mean the company is always put all of the options on the table, debt reduction being a possibility, but that's a possibility if we continue going down the road and we don't find other opportunities to invest those dollars. I mean, we're not going to have those dollars on the books forever indefinitely. But our goal is obviously to grow our clusters and to buy back shares at opportunistic prices and as long as we believe the price is opportunistic, we're going to continue to buy back shares and we're constantly looking at acquisitions. If we don't find any, if we don’t have any alternative buy stock, certainly we'll visit the debt, but I don't think the company has changed the position at all in terms of what the plans are?

Victor Miller

Analyst

If you do in fact go out and acquire assets, is the number one priority within that to acquire assets where you already operate a television duopoly?

Walter Ulloa

Analyst

Right. Our goal is to grow our radio clusters where we have television. But also as important as a goal that is to expand our Univision footprint, which is our core business, and has been since we started the company is right there at the top of the list. So we continue to look at opportunities in our television business to grow our Univision and Telefutura footprint. And we launched another Telefutura station this year in Colorado Springs Pueblo that will be our 19th Telefutura alongside our 23 Univision affiliates and we're also looking at opportunities to expand our Univision footprint.

Victor Miller

Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. I have no further questions at this time.

Phillip Wilkinson

Analyst

Okay, thank you Kim. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our first quarter investor conference call. We look forward to speaking with all of you in early August when we will give you our second quarter results. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference call. We thank you for your participation, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.