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DallasNews Corporation (Nasdaq: DALN) reported a fourth quarter 2023 net loss of $2.2 million, with an operating loss of $2.5 million. Despite a revenue decline of $5.1 million, the company improved its adjusted operating income by $1.6 million. Full year 2023 saw a net loss of $7.1 million, with revenue declining by $11.0 million, but an improvement in adjusted operating loss by $2.6 million. CEO Grant Moise highlighted progress towards profitability through expense savings and revenue growth.
Negative
- Revenue declined by $5.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023
- Net loss for full year 2023 was $7.1 million
- Total revenue decreased by $11.0 million for the full year 2023
The reported financial results from DallasNews Corporation indicate a challenging fiscal period, with a net loss for both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2023. This performance suggests that investors may need to reassess the company’s valuation and future earnings potential. The reduction in total revenue, particularly the significant 30.5 percent decline in advertising and marketing services revenue, reflects broader industry trends where print media continues to face headwinds from digital transformation. However, the increase in digital-only subscription revenue is a positive sign that the company’s strategic pivot towards digital may be gaining traction. The expense savings reported, especially in distribution and newsprint, could be seen as effective cost management in response to declining revenues. The absence of debt and a reasonable cash position provides some financial stability, but the revenue decline may overshadow this aspect.
The media industry is undergoing significant changes, with a shift from traditional print to digital platforms. DallasNews Corporation’s strategic decision to exit its shared mail program and discontinue certain print-only editions aligns with the need to adapt to changing consumer preferences. The reported increase in digital subscription revenue aligns with market trends where media companies are focusing on building digital audiences and monetizing content through subscriptions. However, the decline in print advertising revenue is concerning and reflects the challenges of transitioning to a digital-first business model. The company’s efforts to improve operating margins through voluntary severance offerings and other cost-saving measures are crucial for long-term sustainability. The impact of these strategic changes on the company’s market share and competitive position will be critical to monitor in the coming quarters.
The reported financials from DallasNews Corporation provide insights into the ongoing transformation within the media sector. The company’s decision to end its shared mail program and discontinue certain niche publications is indicative of the broader industry’s move away from print towards digital media. This strategic shift may help the company align better with the evolving media consumption habits, where there is a growing preference for digital content. The increase in digital-only subscription revenue is a testament to the potential of digital platforms to drive future growth. It is also noteworthy that the company has managed to reduce its headcount and operating expenses without incurring any debt, which may position it favorably for a more agile operation in a competitive media landscape. However, the full impact of these changes on the company’s brand and its ability to attract and retain a digital audience will be a key factor in its future success.
DALLAS, March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DallasNews Corporation (Nasdaq: DALN) today reported a fourth quarter 2023 net loss of $2.2 million, or $(0.41) per share, and an operating loss of $2.5 million, which includes expense of $2.7 million related to the Voluntary Severance Program. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company reported a net loss of $2.1 million, or $(0.40) per share, and an operating loss of $1.9 million.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, on a non-GAAP basis, DallasNews reported operating income adjusted for certain items (“adjusted operating income (loss)”) of $0.6 million, an improvement of $1.6 million when compared to an adjusted operating loss of $1.0 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $3.1 million in distribution, $1.6 million in employee compensation and benefits, $1.1 million in newsprint and $0.6 million in outside services, partially offset by a total revenue decline of $5.1 million.
For the full year 2023, the Company reported a net loss of $7.1 million, or $(1.33) per share, and an operating loss of $8.1 million. For the full year 2022, the Company reported a net loss of $9.8 million, or $(1.83) per share, and an operating loss of $9.0 million.
For the full year 2023, on a non-GAAP basis, the Company reported an adjusted operating loss of $2.7 million, an improvement of $2.6 million when compared to an adjusted operating loss of $5.3 million reported for the full year 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $7.0 million in distribution, $2.2 million in outside services, $2.2 million in newsprint, $0.8 million in property rental and $0.6 million in employee compensation and benefits, partially offset by a total revenue decline of $11.0 million. The $7.0 million expense savings in distribution and total revenue decline of $11.0 million are primarily the result of the Company’s strategic decision to exit its shared mail program and discontinue print-only editions of its niche publications, Al Dia and Briefing, at the end of August 2023.
Grant Moise, Chief Executive Officer, said, “I am pleased with the progress we made in 2023 as we get closer to our objective of creating a sustainably profitable media and marketing company. I am encouraged by our ability to grow membership revenue for the third consecutive year, as a result of our focus on balancing volume and price. In the fourth quarter, we executed a successful voluntary severance offering which was a necessary step to improve our operating margins entering 2024.”
Fourth Quarter Results
Total revenue was $34.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of $5.1 million or 13.1 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
Revenue from advertising and marketing services, including print and digital revenues, was $12.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of $5.6 million or 30.5 percent when compared to the $18.4 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2022. The decline is primarily due to a $5.3 million or 45.6 percent reduction in print advertising revenue resulting from the Company ending its shared mail program to deliver weekly preprints and inserts.
Circulation revenue was $17.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $0.5 million or 3.2 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Digital-only subscription revenue increased $1.2 million or 34.1 percent, partially offset by a print circulation decline of $0.6 million or 4.8 percent.
Printing, distribution and other revenue was $4.0 million, a slight decrease when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
Total consolidated operating expense in the fourth quarter of 2023, on a GAAP basis, was $36.5 million, an improvement of $4.6 million or 11.2 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $3.1 million in distribution, $1.1 million in newsprint and $0.6 million in outside services, partially offset by an increase of $0.8 million in employee compensation and benefits expense.
On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted operating expense was $33.4 million, an improvement of $6.7 million or 16.7 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. In addition to the expense savings discussed above, excluding severance, employee compensation and benefits expense improved $1.6 million.
Full Year Results
Total revenue was $139.7 million for the full year 2023, a decrease of $11.0 million or 7.3 percent when compared to the full year 2022.
Revenue from advertising and marketing services, including print and digital revenues, was $59.0 million in 2023, a decrease of $10.6 million or 15.3 percent when compared to the $69.7 million reported for the full year 2022. Print advertising revenue declined $9.8 million or 21.8 percent, driven by an $8.8 million reduction in preprint advertising revenue primarily resulting from the Company ending its shared mail program. Digital advertising and marketing services revenue declined $0.9 million or 3.5 percent.
Circulation revenue was $65.3 million for the full year 2023, an increase of $0.2 million when compared to the full year 2022. Digital-only subscription revenue increased $3.2 million or 24.1 percent, partially offset by a print circulation decline of $3.0 million or 5.8 percent.
Printing, distribution and other revenue decreased $0.5 million, or 3.1 percent, to $15.3 million, primarily due to reductions in revenue from commercial printing and third-party distribution.
Total consolidated operating expense for the full year 2023, on a GAAP basis, was $147.8 million, an improvement of $11.9 million or 7.4 percent compared to the full year 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $7.0 million in distribution, $2.2 million in outside services, $2.2 million in newsprint, $1.2 million in depreciation, $0.8 million in property rental, partially offset by an increase of $2.3 million in employee compensation and benefits expense. The $7.0 million expense savings in distribution is primarily the result of the Company exiting its shared mail program and discontinuing print-only editions of its niche publications.
On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted operating expense was $142.4 million, an improvement of $13.5 million or 8.7 percent when compared to $155.9 million of adjusted operating expense in the full year 2022. In addition to the expense savings discussed above, excluding severance, employee compensation and benefits expense improved $0.6 million.
As of December 31, 2023, the Company had 601 employees, a headcount decrease of 62 or 9.4 percent when compared to the prior year period, not including Voluntary Severance Program participants departing in 2024. As of February 29, the Company had 546 employees. Cash and cash equivalents along with short-term investments were $22.5 million and the Company had no debt as of December 31, 2023.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Reconciliations of operating loss to adjusted operating income (loss) and total operating costs and expense to adjusted operating expense are included in the exhibits to this release.
Financial Results Conference Call
DallasNews Corporation will conduct a conference call on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. CST to discuss financial results. The conference call will be available via webcast by accessing the Company’s website at investor.dallasnewscorporation.com/events. An archive of the webcast will be available at dallasnewscorporation.com in the Investor Relations section.
To access the listen-only conference call, dial 1-844-291-6362 and enter the following access code when prompted: 4561809. A replay line will be available at 1-866-207-1041 from 12:00 p.m. CST on March 7, 2024 until 11:59 p.m. CDT on March 13, 2024. The access code for the replay is 8115710.
About DallasNews Corporation
DallasNews Corporation is the Dallas-based holding company of The Dallas Morning News and Medium Giant. The Dallas Morning News is Texas’ leading daily newspaper with an excellent journalistic reputation, intense regional focus and close community ties. With offices in Dallas and Tulsa, Medium Giant is a full-service advertising agency dedicated to designing, creating and delivering stories that drive customers to act. For additional information, visit dallasnewscorporation.com or email invest@dallasnews.com.
Statements in this communication concerning DallasNews Corporation’s (the “Company”) business outlook or future economic performance, revenues, expenses, cash balance, investments, business initiatives, working capital, and other financial and non-financial items that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” as the term is defined under applicable federal securities laws. Words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “can,” “could,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “may,” “project,” “plan,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and their opposites and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. Such risks, trends and uncertainties are, in most instances, beyond the Company’s control, and include changes in advertising demand and other economic conditions; consumers’ tastes; newsprint and distribution prices; program costs; the success of the Company’s digital strategy; labor relations; cybersecurity incidents; and technological obsolescence. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the board of directors will approve a quarterly dividend in future quarters or that our financial projections are accurate, as well as other risks described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Company’s other public disclosures and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements, which are as of the date of this filing, are not updated to reflect events or circumstances after the date of the statement.
Contact:
Katy Murray
214-977-8869
Kmurray@dallasnews.com
DallasNews Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations
| Three Months Ended December 31, | Years Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| In thousands, except share and per share amounts (unaudited) | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||||||
| Net Operating Revenue: | ||||||||||||||||
| Advertising and marketing services | $ | 12,807 | $ | 18,421 | $ | 59,038 | $ | 69,667 | ||||||||
| Circulation | 17,148 | 16,615 | 65,349 | 65,191 | ||||||||||||
| Printing, distribution and other | 4,028 | 4,067 | 15,309 | 15,793 | ||||||||||||
| Total net operating revenue | 33,983 | 39,103 | 139,696 | 150,651 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Costs and Expense: | ||||||||||||||||
| Employee compensation and benefits | 18,271 | 17,454 | 69,445 | 67,096 | ||||||||||||
| Other production, distribution and operating costs | 15,909 | 19,973 | 68,008 | 78,638 | ||||||||||||
| Newsprint, ink and other supplies | 1,881 | 2,976 | 8,793 | 11,035 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 402 | 582 | 1,520 | 2,709 | ||||||||||||
| Loss on sale/disposal of assets, net | — | 58 | — | 58 | ||||||||||||
| Asset impairments | — | — | — | 102 | ||||||||||||
| Total operating costs and expense | 36,463 | 41,043 | 147,766 | 159,638 | ||||||||||||
| Operating loss | (2,480 | ) | (1,940 | ) | (8,070 | ) | (8,987 | ) | ||||||||
| Other income (loss), net | 340 | (193 | ) | 1,422 | (241 | ) | ||||||||||
| Loss Before Income Taxes | (2,140 | ) | (2,133 | ) | (6,648 | ) | (9,228 | ) | ||||||||
| Income tax provision | 67 | 8 | 464 | 558 | ||||||||||||
| Net Loss | $ | (2,207 | ) | $ | (2,141 | ) | $ | (7,112 | ) | $ | (9,786 | ) | ||||
| Per Share Basis | ||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | (0.41 | ) | $ | (0.40 | ) | $ | (1.33 | ) | $ | (1.83 | ) | ||||
| Number of common shares used in the per share calculation: | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 5,352,490 | 5,352,490 | 5,352,490 | 5,352,490 | ||||||||||||
(1) The Company’s Series A and Series B common stock equally share in the distributed and undistributed earnings. There were no options or RSUs outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, that would result in dilution of shares or the calculation of EPS under the two-class method as prescribed under ASC 260 – Earnings Per Share.
DallasNews Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||
| In thousands (unaudited) | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 11,697 | $ | 27,825 | ||||
| Short-term investments | 10,781 | — | ||||||
| Accounts receivable, net | 9,923 | 14,023 | ||||||
| Other current assets | 4,532 | 6,077 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 36,933 | 47,925 | ||||||
| Property, plant and equipment, net | 7,099 | 7,438 | ||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 16,141 | 14,811 | ||||||
| Deferred income taxes, net | 271 | 282 | ||||||
| Other assets | 1,790 | 1,809 | ||||||
| Total assets | $ | 62,234 | $ | 72,265 | ||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 3,963 | $ | 5,041 | ||||
| Accrued compensation and other current liabilities | 10,449 | 8,214 | ||||||
| Contract liabilities | 9,511 | 9,504 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 23,923 | 22,759 | ||||||
| Long-term pension liabilities | 17,353 | 19,455 | ||||||
| Long-term operating lease liabilities | 16,924 | 16,546 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 1,076 | 1,142 | ||||||
| Total liabilities | 59,276 | 59,902 | ||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 2,958 | 12,363 | ||||||
| Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | $ | 62,234 | $ | 72,265 | ||||
DallasNews Corporation – Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Reconciliation of Operating Loss to Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)
| Three Months Ended December 31, | Years Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| In thousands (unaudited) | 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||||||
| Total net operating revenue | $ | 33,983 | $ | 39,103 | $ | 139,696 | $ | 150,651 | ||||||||
| Total operating costs and expense | 36,463 | 41,043 | 147,766 | 159,638 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Loss | $ | (2,480 | ) | $ | (1,940 | ) | $ | (8,070 | ) | $ | (8,987 | ) | ||||
| Total operating costs and expense | $ | 36,463 | $ | 41,043 | $ | 147,766 | $ | 159,638 | ||||||||
| Less: | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 402 | 582 | 1,520 | 2,709 | ||||||||||||
| Severance expense | 2,673 | 304 | 3,834 | 845 | ||||||||||||
| Loss on sale/disposal of assets, net | — | 58 | — | 58 | ||||||||||||
| Asset impairments | — | — | — | 102 | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted Operating Expense | $ | 33,388 | $ | 40,099 | $ | 142,412 | $ | 155,924 | ||||||||
| Total net operating revenue | $ | 33,983 | $ | 39,103 | $ | 139,696 | $ | 150,651 | ||||||||
| Adjusted operating expense | 33,388 | 40,099 | 142,412 | 155,924 | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) | $ | 595 | $ | (996 | ) | $ | (2,716 | ) | $ | (5,273 | ) | |||||
The Company calculates adjusted operating income (loss) by adjusting operating income (loss) to exclude depreciation, severance expense, (gain) loss on sale/disposal of assets, and asset impairments (“adjusted operating income (loss)”). The Company believes that inclusion of certain noncash expenses and other items in the results makes for more difficult comparisons between years and with peer group companies.
Adjusted operating income (loss) is not a measure of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Management uses adjusted operating income (loss) and similar measures in internal analyses as supplemental measures of the Company’s financial performance, and for performance comparisons versus its peer group of companies. Management uses this non-GAAP financial measure for the purposes of evaluating consolidated Company performance. The Company therefore believes that the non-GAAP measure presented provides useful information to investors by allowing them to view the Company’s business through the eyes of management and the Board of Directors, facilitating comparison of results across historical periods and providing a focus on the underlying ongoing operating performance of its business. Adjusted operating income (loss) should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss), cash flows provided by (used for) operating activities or other comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, this non-GAAP measure may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures of other companies.
DallasNews Corporation reported a net loss of $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The company improved its adjusted operating income by $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The company decided to exit its shared mail program and discontinue print-only editions of its niche publications, Al Dia and Briefing, at the end of August 2023.
Grant Moise is the Chief Executive Officer of DallasNews Corporation.
DallasNews Corporation will conduct a conference call on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. CST to discuss financial results.
