New Media Investment Group Inc. (NEWM) has reported 74.29 percent plunge in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 25, 2016. The company has earned $14.50 million, or $0.31 a share in the quarter, compared with $56.38 million, or $1.26 a share for the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 0.02 percent to $333.58 million from $333.65 million in the previous year period. Total expenses were 91.92 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 80.02 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 1190 basis points in operating margin to 8.08 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $26.97 million, compared with $66.68 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $49.65 million compared with $54.32 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 140 basis points in the quarter to 14.88 percent from 16.28 percent in the last year period.
Michael E. Reed, New Media president and chief executive officer, commented, "During the quarter, we successfully closed our previously-announced acquisitions of the Columbia Daily Tribune and Rochester Business Journal, and announced and closed the acquisition of Harris Enterprises for $20.4 million. The Harris papers are a great complement to our footprint in Kansas and Iowa and have been serving their communities with quality local news and information for over a century. We were also pleased to recently announce and close our first deal for 2017, the acquisition of the publishing division of the Wooster Republican Printing Company for $21.2 million. This Ohio based group is a great strategic fit with our existing Ohio cluster. With this acquisition, we have now completed over $735 million of transactions since inception, completing eight transactions in 2016, the highest number of acquisitions we have done in any single year. With over $200 million in liquidity, New Media is well positioned to take advantage of more great acquisition opportunities at attractive valuations in 2017.
Operating cash flow declinesNew Media Investment Group Inc. has generated cash of $98.36 million from operating activities during the year, down 14.71 percent or $16.96 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $144.83 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $298.70 million in the last year.
Cash flow from financing activities was $72.08 million for the year, down 65.06 percent or $134.23 million, when compared with the last year.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $172.25 million as on Dec. 25, 2016, up 17.46 percent or $25.61 million from $146.64 million on Dec. 27, 2015.
Working capital increases
New Media Investment Group Inc. has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $174.48 million as at Dec. 25, 2016, up 11.59 percent or $18.12 million from $156.36 million on Dec. 27, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.89 as on Dec. 25, 2016, up from 1.89 on Dec. 27, 2015.
Debt remains almost stable
Total debt of New Media Investment Group Inc. remained almost stable for the quarter at $353.25 million, when compared with the last year period. Total debt was 26.44 percent of total assets as on Dec. 25, 2016, compared with 29.47 percent on Dec. 27, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.47 as on Dec. 25, 2016, down from 0.55 as on Dec. 27, 2015. Interest coverage ratio deteriorated to 3.66 for the quarter from 8.75 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
