February 27, 2019 |
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) |
Maryland | 000-26076 | 52-1494660 | ||
(State of organization) | (Commission File Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
• | INCREASES TOTAL REVENUE BY 25% COMPARED TO PRIOR YEAR |
• | DECLARES $0.20 QUARTERLY DIVIDEND PER SHARE |
• | Total revenues increased 25.4% to $893.3 million versus $712.5 million in the prior year period. |
• | Operating income was $263.0 million, including $3 million of legal, regulatory and other non-recurring costs, versus operating income of $357.6 million in the prior year period, which included $15 million of legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs, $9 million in one-time bonuses to our employees as a result of favorable tax reform legislation, and a $225 million gain recognized for vacating spectrum in certain markets. |
• | Net income attributable to the Company was $206.2 million, versus net income of $443.5 million in the prior year period which included a $272 million non-recurring tax benefit related to re-measurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities as a result of the reduction of the federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% pursuant to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and a $225 million pre-tax gain recognized for vacating spectrum in certain markets. |
• | Diluted earnings per common share was $2.10 as compared to $4.32 in the prior year period. The impact of the above highlighted legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs in 2018, on a per-share basis, was $(0.03) and the impact of legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs, tax reform, and sale of spectrum in 2017 was $3.82. |
• | Total revenues increased 15.9% to $3,055.1 million versus $2,636.2 million in the prior year period. |
• | Operating income was $659.7 million, including $27 million of legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs, versus operating income of $737.5 million in the prior year period, which included $38 million of tax reform bonuses, legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs, and a $225 million gain recognized for vacating spectrum in certain markets. |
• | Net income attributable to the Company was $341.2 million, which includes $75 million in ticking fee costs related to the financing commitments for the terminated Tribune acquisition, versus net income of $576.0 million in the prior year period which included a $272 million non-recurring tax benefit related to re-measurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities as a result of the reduction of the federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% pursuant to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and a $225 million pre-tax gain recognized for vacating spectrum in certain markets. |
• | Diluted earnings per common share was $3.35 as compared to $5.72 in the prior year period. The impact of the ticking fees, legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs in 2018, on a per-share basis, was $(0.77), and the impact of legal, regulatory and other nonrecurring costs, tax reform and sales of spectrum in 2017 was $3.76. |
• | Media revenues increased 22.5% to $848.9 million versus $693.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. |
• | Political revenues were $149.6 million in the fourth quarter versus $15.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, a non-election year. |
• | Distribution revenues were $334.1 million versus $299.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. |
• | Revenues from our digital businesses increased 22.5%, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. |
• | Media revenues increased 13.7% to $2,918.7 million versus $2,566.9 million in 2017. |
• | Political revenues were $254.7 million in 2018 versus $30.3 million in 2017, a non-election year. |
• | Distribution revenues were $1,298.6 million versus $1,139.8 million in 2017. |
• | Revenues from our digital businesses increased 32.6%, as compared to 2017. |
• | During the three months ended December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased 6.1 million shares for $175 million, or $28.57 per share, on average. |
• | During the twelve months ended December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased 7.8 million shares for $220.9 million, or $28.46 per share, on average. |
• | Since December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased an additional 3.4 million shares for $101.0 million, or $29.93 per share, on average. $767 million share repurchase capacity remains outstanding. |
• | In December, the Company and the DISH Network (“DISH”) entered into a multi-year agreement for the continued carriage of the Company’s broadcast television stations and Tennis Channel on DISH’s direct broadcast satellite platform and additional carriage of one of Sinclair’s emerging networks. The companies also agreed to carriage of Sinclair-owned networks, including Tennis Channel, on DISH’s Sling TV. |
• | In January, the Company entered into a multi-year retransmission renewal with Mediacom for the carriage of Sinclair stations, Tennis Channel and Sinclair’s growth networks on its systems. |
• | In January, Sinclair and the licensees of stations to which Sinclair provides services, and NBC entered into multi-year renewals of NBC affiliates in 13 markets. |
• | In February, Sinclair and the licensees of stations to which Sinclair provides services, and FOX Broadcasting Company entered into amendments to multi-year renewals of the 26 FOX affiliations that were previously renewed as part of the agreement entered in May 8, 2018, revising certain aspects of such agreements and waiving any termination rights the parties may have had with respect to such agreements. |
• | In February, Sinclair and the Chicago Cubs (“the Cubs”) announced the formation of a joint venture that will own and operate Marquee Sports Network (“Marquee”), a regional sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. Marquee will be the Chicago-region’s exclusive network for fans to view live Cubs games beginning with the 2020 Major League Baseball season and will also feature exclusive Cubs content and other local sports programming. In addition to the execution of the joint venture agreement, the Cubs simultaneously entered into a long-term rights agreement with Marquee. |
• | Sinclair’s newsrooms, dedicated to impactful journalism with a local focus, won 338 awards in 2018, including two National RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards, one to Circa and the other to our Seattle ABC affiliate, KOMO-TV. In addition, 21 of our newsrooms earned 45 Regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards, with 84 Emmy’s going to 23 newsrooms. |
• | In January, ONE Media 3.0, LLC, a subsidiary of the Company, and Saankhya Labs, in collaboration with VeriSilicon and Samsung Foundry, announced the completed design and development of a mobile chip die that supports ATSC 3.0 and other global standards. The compact design and low power operation make it a perfect receive device for mobile and portable applications. Reference designs are underway that will be used with cell phones, laptops and tablet devices. |
• | In January, the Company and SK Telecom announced a joint venture agreement to lead the next-generation, hybrid wireless market in the U.S. and globally. The two companies will collaborate on technologies and services that will bring together mobile-wireless, including 5G, and over-the-air wireless to support hybrid business solutions. |
• | In January, the Company, SK Telecom and Harman signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop and commercialize digital broadcasting network-based automotive electronics technology for global markets. |
• | In January, Sinclair opened its Broadcast Diversity Scholarship for applications. Since launching the scholarship program, Sinclair has distributed over $128,000 in financial assistance to students demonstrating a promising future in the broadcast industry. |
• | Debt on the balance sheet, net of $1.060 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, was $2.832 billion as of December 31, 2018 versus net debt of $2.878 billion as of September 30, 2018. |
• | As of December 31, 2018, 68.9 million Class A common shares and 25.7 million Class B common shares were outstanding, for a total of 94.6 million common shares outstanding. |
• | In December 2018, the Company paid a $0.20 per share quarterly cash dividend to its shareholders, reflecting a $0.02 per share quarterly increase. |
• | Non-repack capital expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2018 were $18 million and $9 million related to the spectrum repack. |
• | Program contract payments were $25 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. |
2019 Outlook ($ in millions) | First Quarter | Full Year |
Media Revenues | $667 million to $673 million | No estimate provided |
Political Revenues included in Media Revenues | $2 million | |
Distribution Revenues included in Media Revenues | $344 million to $347 million | |
Media Revenue related to revenue-generating initiatives | $16 million | |
Media Production Expenses and Media Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (together, “Media Expenses”) | $482 million to $484 million | $1,970 million to $1,973 million |
Media Expenses related to revenue-generating initiatives | $26 million | $115 million |
Stock-based Compensation Expense | $4 million | $16 million |
Non-media Revenues | $38 million | $160 million |
Program Contract Payments | $24 million | $95 million |
Corporate Overhead | $25 million | $93 million |
Stock-based Compensation Expense | $6 million | $15 million |
One-time transaction costs | $2 million | $6 million |
Non-media Expenses, including ONE Media and Research and Development costs | $37 million | $162 million |
Program Contract Amortization | $24 million | $93 million |
Depreciation on property and equipment | $23 million | $99 million |
Amortization of acquired intangibles | $44 million | $173 million |
Net gains on asset dispositions | $30 million | $112 million |
Net Interest Expense | $49 million | $197 million |
Net Interest Expense - Cash basis | $47 million | $189 million |
Equity method investments loss | $14 million | $53 million |
Effective Tax Rate | 9% | 9% |
Net Cash Taxes paid | $1 million | $29 million |
Total Capital Expenditures, including Repack | $54 million | $250 million to $260 million |
Repack Capital Expenditures | $25 million | $140 million |
Three Months Ended December 31, | Twelve Months Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||||||||
REVENUES: | |||||||||||||||
Media revenues | $ | 848,853 | $ | 693,055 | $ | 2,918,727 | $ | 2,566,936 | |||||||
Non-media revenues | 44,472 | 19,457 | 136,354 | 69,279 | |||||||||||
Total revenues | 893,325 | 712,512 | 3,055,081 | 2,636,215 | |||||||||||
OPERATING EXPENSES: | |||||||||||||||
Media production expenses | 297,827 | 267,926 | 1,191,016 | 1,064,144 | |||||||||||
Media selling, general and administrative expenses | 177,645 | 148,165 | 629,919 | 533,537 | |||||||||||
Amortization of program contract costs and net realizable value adjustments | 24,757 | 27,561 | 100,899 | 115,523 | |||||||||||
Non-media expenses | 37,771 | 23,225 | 122,491 | 75,199 | |||||||||||
Depreciation of property and equipment | 29,763 | 25,077 | 105,240 | 97,103 | |||||||||||
Corporate general and administrative expenses | 22,467 | 41,795 | 111,070 | 113,253 | |||||||||||
Amortization of definite-lived intangible and other assets | 43,526 | 46,523 | 174,848 | 178,822 | |||||||||||
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment | (3,385 | ) | (225,341 | ) | (40,063 | ) | (278,872 | ) | |||||||
Total operating expenses | 630,371 | 354,931 | 2,395,420 | 1,898,709 | |||||||||||
Operating income | 262,954 | 357,581 | 659,661 | 737,506 | |||||||||||
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE): | |||||||||||||||
Interest expense and amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs | (54,210 | ) | (52,295 | ) | (291,976 | ) | (212,315 | ) | |||||||
Loss from extinguishment of debt | — | — | — | (1,404 | ) | ||||||||||
Loss from equity method investments | (16,717 | ) | (9,899 | ) | (60,831 | ) | (14,307 | ) | |||||||
Other income, net | 1,465 | 3,476 | 3,369 | 9,264 | |||||||||||
Total other expense, net | (69,462 | ) | (58,718 | ) | (349,438 | ) | (218,762 | ) | |||||||
Income before income taxes | 193,492 | 298,863 | 310,223 | 518,744 | |||||||||||
INCOME TAX BENEFIT | 14,202 | 145,937 | 35,775 | 75,360 | |||||||||||
NET INCOME | 207,694 | 444,800 | 345,998 | 594,104 | |||||||||||
Net income attributable to the noncontrolling interests | (1,493 | ) | (1,271 | ) | (4,757 | ) | (18,091 | ) | |||||||
NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP | $ | 206,201 | $ | 443,529 | $ | 341,241 | $ | 576,013 | |||||||
EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP: | |||||||||||||||
Basic earnings per share | $ | 2.12 | $ | 4.36 | $ | 3.38 | $ | 5.77 | |||||||
Diluted earnings per share | $ | 2.10 | $ | 4.32 | $ | 3.35 | $ | 5.72 | |||||||
Weighted average common shares outstanding | 97,484 | 101,727 | 100,913 | 99,844 | |||||||||||
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding | 98,218 | 102,615 | 101,718 | 100,789 |