DALLAS, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Community Newspapers Inc. ("ACN") today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 30, 2007. Comparisons are made on a pro forma basis to the 2006 fourth quarter and full year results as ACN (formerly Courtside Acquisition Corp.) had no prior year reported operating results due to its acquisition of an operating company on July 2, 2007.
2007 Fourth Quarter Pro Forma Performance: -- Total revenue was $17.6 million, down 4.5% from pro forma total revenue of $18.5 million in the prior year quarter. The decline was primarily due to the soft advertising environment, specifically at ACN's Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, total revenue was up 0.8%. In addition, ACN faced difficult year-over-year comparisons. In the fourth quarter of 2006, ACN delivered organic revenue growth of 6.4% in its then owned publications, while the newspaper industry experienced a revenue decline of 2.2%, according to the Newspaper Association of America during this same period. -- Advertising revenue decreased 6.4% to $16.2 million from the fourth quarter of 2006. -- Pro forma adjusted EBITDA was $3.7 million, up 0.6% from the prior year quarter and up 7.4% to the prior year quarter when adjusted for the corporate expense increase due to public company costs incurred in the 2007 fourth quarter. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, pro forma adjusted EBITDA was up 27.7%. -- Newspaper cash flow, which is defined as pro forma adjusted EBITDA prior to corporate expenses, was $4.3 million, up 5.7% year-over-year. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, newspaper cash flow was up 33.2%. -- Net loss was $2.9 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $0.23 per diluted share in the prior year quarter on a pro forma basis. -- Internet advertising revenues increased 58.4% year-over-year in the 2007 fourth quarter and represented 3.0% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2007. ACN newspaper Web sites generated 4.8 million page views and had 1.2 million unique users during the month of December 2007. -- ACN's 100 print products had a total circulation of 1.4 million in the 2007 fourth quarter. ACN has a free, controlled-distribution model for most of its print products, with circulation accounting for only 4.1% of total Company revenues in the period.
"2007 was an eventful year for ACN as we became a public company, successfully executed on our Columbus acquisition and delivered financial results that place us among the leading performers in our industry," said Gene Carr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ACN. "Our performance was highlighted by growth at three of our four clusters, with Minneapolis-St. Paul being impacted by weakness in housing related advertising, primarily in the second half of the year. Excluding Minneapolis-St Paul, revenue for the quarter and full year was up slightly, while we delivered strong double digit increases in Newspaper Cash Flow and EBITDA in both reporting periods in our other three clusters. This improvement was driven by our ability to successfully capitalize on our Columbus acquisition and our continuing focus on cost controls."
Mr. Carr concluded, "While we continue to execute on our revenue initiatives we are facing increasing headwinds from the challenging macro- economic environment and difficult performance comparisons in the first quarter of 2008, as we delivered total revenue growth of 4.6% and advertising revenue growth of 5.0% in the first quarter of 2007 in our then owned publications. The overall advertising landscape across our markets has become increasingly challenging as advertising budgets tighten. However, we believe we are maintaining our overall advertising share and ACN's community newspapers remain the medium of choice both for local readers and advertisers, giving us the confidence that we have the platform and brands in place for long-term growth. We remain focused on managing expenses and continue to explore opportunities to strengthen our existing clusters and enter new markets that meet our growth characteristics."
Twelve Months Ended December 30, 2007 (Pro Forma): -- Total revenue was $74.3 million, down 3.2% from total revenue of $76.8 million in the prior year period. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, total revenue was up 0.2%. In the full year 2006, ACN delivered organic revenue growth of 7.4% in its then owned publications, while the newspaper industry experienced a revenue decline of 0.3% according to the Newspaper Association of America during this same period. -- Advertising revenue decreased 3.5% to $68.5 million from 2006. -- Pro forma adjusted EBITDA was $16.9 million, down $10,000 or roughly flat with the prior year, and pro forma adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 22.1% to 22.8% in this period. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, pro forma adjusted EBITDA was up 24.7% in 2007. -- Newspaper cash flow, which is defined as pro forma adjusted EBITDA prior to corporate expenses, was $18.8 million, up 2.2% year-over-year, and newspaper cash margin increased from 24.0% to 25.4% in this period. Excluding the Minneapolis-St. Paul cluster, newspaper cash flow was up 25.4%. -- Net loss was $10.2 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $10.9 million or $0.75 per diluted share in 2006. Conference Call & Webcast
ACN will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET today to discuss 2007 fourth quarter and full year financial results. Investors can access the conference call via a live webcast on the company's website, http://www.acnpapers.com/, or by dialing 866-507-1212 (U.S.) or 416-695-9761 (International) and referencing American Community Newspapers.
A webcast replay will be archived on the company's Web site. Additionally, a replay of the call will be available by dialing 800-408-3053 (U.S.) or 416- 695-5800 (International), pass code 3253968, through March 18, 2007.
About American Community Newspapers Inc.
ACN is a community newspaper publisher in the United States, operating within four major U.S. markets: Minneapolis - St. Paul, Dallas, Northern Virginia (suburban Washington, D.C.) and Columbus, Ohio. These markets are some of the most affluent, high growth markets in the United States, with ACN strategically positioned in many of the wealthiest counties within each market. ACN's goal is to be the preeminent provider of local content and advertising in any market its serves. In these markets, ACN publishes three daily and 83 weekly newspapers, each serving a specific community, and 14 niche publications, with a combined circulation of approximately 1.4 million households. In addition, ACN's locally focused Web sites have average monthly page views and visitors of approximately 5.1 million and 1.3 million, respectively, extending the reach and frequency of its products beyond their geographic print distribution area.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to ACN's future financial or business performance, strategies and expectations. Forward- looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential," "opportunity," "pipeline," "believe," "comfortable," "expect," "anticipate," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume," "outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," " seek, " "achieve," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "may" and similar expressions.
Pro Forma
We have presented our operating results on a pro forma basis for the three months ended December 30, 2007 and December 31, 2006 and the twelve months ended December 30, 2007 and December 31, 2006. This pro forma presentation for the three and twelve months ended December 30, 2007 and December 31, 2006 assumes that the July 2, 2007 acquisition of our operating business and related financings occurred at the beginning of the pro forma period. This pro forma presentation is not necessarily indicative of what our operating results would have actually been had the acquisition and related financings occurred at the beginning of the pro forma period. This pro forma presentation is required for comparison purposes as the Company had no operations in the corresponding three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2006.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release includes the following financial information defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the Securities and Exchange Commission: EBITDA and Newspaper Cash Flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. ACN believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures provides information that is useful to investors as it indicates more clearly the ability of ACN to meet capital expenditures and working capital requirements and otherwise meet its obligations as they become due. ACN's pro forma adjusted EBITDA was derived by taking earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as adjusted for discontinued operations, acquisitions and certain one-time non-recurring items, non-cash items and exclusions. ACN's Newspaper Cash Flow was derived by taking earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as adjusted for corporate expenses, discontinued operations, acquisitions and certain one-time non-recurring items, non-cash items and exclusions. See the following "Reconciliation of net income (loss) to pro forma adjusted EBITDA" and "Reconciliation of net income (loss) to Newspaper Cash Flow" tables for further information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures.
AMERICAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS INC. Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations ($000s, except per share data) Three Months Ended Year Ended December 30, December 31, December 30, December 31, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Revenues: Advertising $16,178 $ - $33,338 $ - Circulation 728 - 1,408 - Commercial printing and other 727 - 1,423 - Total revenues 17,633 - 36,169 - Operating costs and expenses: Operating costs 7,892 - 15,972 - Selling, general and administrative 6,129 300 12,597 563 Depreciation and amortization 3,183 - 6,384 - 17,204 300 34,953 563 Operating income (loss) 429 (300) 1,216 (563) Interest expense (3,649) - (7,325) - Interest income - 532 1,211 1,997 (Loss) income from operations before income taxes (3,220) 232 (4,898) 1,434 Income tax benefit (expense) 448 (85) 310 (388) Net (loss) income $(2,772) $147 $(4,588) $1,046 (Loss) earnings per share: Basic and diluted: $(0.19) $0.01 $(0.29) $0.06 Weighted average shares outstanding 14,623,445 16,800,000 15,702,778 16,800,000 AMERICAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS INC. Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations (Pro Forma) ($000s, except per share data) Three Months Ended Year Ended December 30, December 31, December 30, December 31, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Revenues: Advertising $16,178 $17,284 $68,489 $71,007 Circulation 728 575 3,106 2,950 Commercial printing and other 727 608 2,708 2,800 Total revenues 17,633 18,467 74,303 76,757 Operating costs and expenses: Operating costs 7,892 8,534 33,037 34,851 Selling, general and administrative 6,129 6,739 25,244 26,303 Depreciation and amortization 3,258 3,208 13,068 12,831 17,279 18,481 71,349 73,985 Operating income (loss) 354 (14) 2,954 2,772 Interest expense (3,400) (3,529) (13,649) (14,307) Loss from operations before income taxes (3,046) (3,543) (10,695) (11,535) Income tax benefit 155 180 544 587 Net loss $(2,891) $(3,363) $(10,151) $(10,948) Loss per share: Basic and diluted: $(0.20) $(0.23) $(0.69) $(0.75) Weighted average shares outstanding 14,623,445 14,623,445 14,623,445 14,623,445 American Community Newspapers Inc. Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets ($000s) December 30, December 31, 2007 2006 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $1,521 $1,193 Cash equivalents held in Trust Fund - 77,036 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $88 at December 30, 2007 7,010 - Inventories 619 - Other current assets 754 125 Total current assets 9,904 78,354 Property, plant, and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation of 9,324 - $897 at December 30, 2007 Goodwill 90,110 - Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization of 105,111 - $5,487 at December 30, 2007 Other assets 100 - Total assets $214,549 $78,354 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $1,401 $278 Accrued expenses 2,232 - Accrued interest 2,018 - Deferred revenue 1,314 - Current portion of long-term liabilities 2,100 - Taxes payable - 249 Deferred dividends - 654 Total current liabilities 9,065 1,181 Long-term liabilities: Long-term debt 137,866 - Deferred income taxes 1,862 - Redeemable preferred stock, $.0001 par value, Authorized 1,000,000 shares; 42,193 issued and outstanding shares at December 30, 2007 4,557 - Total liabilities 153,350 1,181 Common Stock, subject to conversion 2,758,620 shares at conversion value - 14,745 Stockholders' equity Common stock, $.0001 par value, Authorized 50,000,000 shares Issued and outstanding 14,623,445 and 16,800,000 shares, respectively 1 2 Additional paid-in capital 64,329 60,969 Retained (deficit) earnings (3,131) 1,457 Total stockholders' equity 61,199 62,428 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $214,549 $78,354 Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA ($000s) Three Months Ended Year Ended December 30, December 31, December 30, December 31, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Net Income (loss) $(2,772) $147 $(4,588) $1,046 Income tax (benefit) expense (448) 85 (310) 388 Non-cash stock based compensation expense 101 - 249 - Interest income - 532 (1,211) (1,997) Interest expense 3,649 - 7,325 - Depreciation and amortization 3,183 - 6,384 - Other non-recurring items - (764) 259 563 Adjustments for acquisitions - 3,690 8,830 16,948 Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA $3,713 $3,690 $16,938 $16,948 Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Newspaper Cash Flow ($000s) Three Months Ended Year Ended December 30, December 31, December 30, December 31, 2007 2006 2007 2006 Net Income (loss) $(2,772) $147 $(4,588) $1,046 Income tax (benefit) expense (448) 85 (310) 388 Non-cash stock based compensation expense 101 - 249 - Interest income - 532 (1,211) (1,997) Interest expense 3,649 - 7,325 - Depreciation and amortization 3,183 - 6,384 - Other non-recurring items - (764) 259 563 Corporate expense 570 361 1,902 1,482 Adjustments for acquisitions - 3,690 8,831 16,948 Newspaper Cash Flow $4,283 $4,051 $18,841 $18,430
CONTACT: Dan Wilson of American Community Newspapers, +1-972-628-4082, dwilson@acnpapers.com; or Investors: Corey Kinger, +1-212-986-6667, kinger@braincomm.com, or Media: Joe LoBello, +1-212-986-6667, lobello@braincomm.com, both of Brainerd Communicators
Web site: http://www.acnpapers.com/
