Local business: Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. reports revenue increase

Beasley Broadcast Group Inc., which trades under BBGI on the Nasdaq, reported Monday that its consolidated net revenues rose 2 percent in the three months ending Sept. 30 to $29.4 million. That was up from $28.8 million a year earlier, in part because more people tuned into WQAM, the company's Miami-based station that airs Marlins games. The interest generated more advertising.

"As you can imagine we are as thrilled as anybody -- I guess that's outside New York -- about the Marlins' success this year," said Bruce Beasley, the company's president and chief operating officer in a conference call announcing the company's operating results on Monday.

"We are hopeful the excitement generated by the team will translate into sustainable community support for the franchise in the years ahead. So we view our relationship with the team as an investment in the future," he said.

Beasley's performance beat both company and analyst projections for the third quarter.

The Marlins' success will also boost profits for Beasley Broadcast in the fourth quarter. The company attributes about $500,000 in revenues to the playoffs and World Series alone.

For the three months ending Sept. 30, Beasley reported that net income was up more than 110 percent to $3.1 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, from $1.5 million, or .06 cents per diluted share in the same period a year ago. The company reported a $1.2 million gain on the sale of 50,000 shares in FindWhat.com, the growing Fort Myers-based Internet company that's also publicly traded.

George Beasley, company chairman and CEO, said the quarter marked "yet another period of steady progress" for the company, which owns five stations locally and more than three dozen nationwide.

"Our revenue grew at a modest 2 percent, overcoming what continues to be a challenging economic and advertising climate," he said. "We saw good growth in our Miami, Fort Myers and Las Vegas market clusters, as well as our Greenville-New Burn (in the coastal Carolinas) market cluster."

Las Vegas continues to be a particularly strong market for Beasley. National sales revenues grew nearly 80 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same period a year ago. Local sales were also up by about 6 percent.

"Overall in the Las Vegas and southern Nevada region, a strengthening economy, low unemployment and new job growth have been driving the economy," Bruce Beasley said.

On the flip side, the economy in the Fayetteville, N.C., area is suffering because of the continued deployment of troops to Iraq, and that is hurting Beasley's stations in that market. The decrease in revenues seen at those stations has been partially offset by increases generated by the Florida Marlins in Miami, company officials said.

For the nine months ending Sept. 30, Beasley's net revenue increased to $82.3 million, up from $82 million a year earlier. The company reported net income of $9.5 million, or .39 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.9 million, or .28 cents per diluted share, for the same period in 2002.

"Despite a few challenges and some distractions we remain squarely focused on improving this company's competitive position," George Beasley said. "To that end, we continue to make what we believe are key investments in our largest markets, like Philadelphia and Miami, in order to stay competitive."

He said company officials are looking at every aspect of operations to try to improve efficiency and that they continue to work to reduce long-term debt.

In the fourth quarter, Beasley expects a decline in the company's net revenues of up to 5 percent. That's in part because the company has canceled a chili cook-off that was hosted by radio station WXTU in Philadelphia last year. The event, which featured a country concert, has been suspended because so many country singers have performed in that market this year.

Because it's an off year, there will be an absence of political advertising at all of Beasley's stations, which collected $500,000 in political advertising income for Beasley Broadcast in the last three months of 2002.

Founded in 1961, Beasley Broadcast now owns or operates 41 stations in 10 large and mid-size markets in the United States.

Locally, the company owns WRXK 96.1 FM, WJBX 99.3 FM, WXKB 103.9 FM, WJPT 106.3 FM and WWCN 770 AM.

On Monday, the company's shares closed at $14.68, up from Friday's closing price of $14.58.