DallasNews Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

DALLAS, Oct. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DallasNews Corporation ( DALN) today reported a third quarter 2023 net loss of $1.4 million, or $(0.26) per share, and an operating loss of $1.6 million. In the third quarter of 2022, the Company reported a net loss of $2.6 million, or $(0.48) per share, and an operating loss of $2.3 million.

For the third quarter of 2023, on a non-GAAP basis, DallasNews reported an operating loss adjusted for certain items (“adjusted operating loss”) of $0.9 million, an improvement of $0.7 million or 44.8 percent when compared to an adjusted operating loss of $1.6 million reported in the third quarter of 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $3.9 million, partially offset by a total revenue decline of $3.2 million.

Grant Moise, Chief Executive Officer, said, “In 2023, we have experienced mixed revenue results. Core print advertising revenue, excluding the shared mail program we discontinued August 31, 2023, has outperformed our expectations, and digital marketing services have been slower than expected. In the third quarter, we announced our voluntary severance offering to align our expenses with these new revenue trends as we enter 2024. On the journalism side of the business, our 30-day series on fentanyl entitled ‘Deadly Fake’ was one of the most ambitious projects our newsroom has taken on in years. The audience results from the series were impressive, and it further positioned The News as a nationally renowned newsroom.”

Third Quarter Results

Total revenue was $34.5 million in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of $3.2 million or 8.5 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2022.

Revenue from advertising and marketing services, including print and digital revenues, was $14.7 million in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of $2.8 million or 16.1 percent when compared to the $17.5 million reported for the third quarter of 2022. The decline is primarily due to a $2.0 million or 18.0 percent decrease in print advertising revenue, driven by a $1.8 million or 36.8 percent reduction in preprint advertising revenue resulting from the Company’s strategic decision to exit its shared mail program to deliver weekly preprints and inserts.

Circulation revenue was $16.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, flat when compared to the third quarter of 2022. The digital-only subscription revenue increase of $0.7 million or 21.4 percent mostly offset the print circulation revenue decline of $0.8 million or 6.1 percent.

Printing, distribution and other revenue was $3.6 million, a decrease of $0.3 million or 8.3 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2022, primarily due to a decline in commercial printing revenue.

Total consolidated operating expense in the third quarter of 2023, on a GAAP basis, was $36.1 million, an improvement of $3.9 million or 9.7 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $1.7 million in distribution, $0.9 million in outside services and $0.8 million in newsprint.

On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted operating expense was $35.4 million, an improvement of $3.9 million or 9.9 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2022.

As of September 30, 2023, the Company had 608 employees, a decrease of 60 full-time equivalents, or 9.0 percent, when compared to the prior year period. Cash and cash equivalents along with short-term investments were $24.5 million and the Company had no debt.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reconciliations of operating loss to adjusted operating 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 Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. CDT 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 1-844-291-5495 and enter the following access code when prompted: 664314. A replay line will be available at 1-866-207-1041 from 12:00 p.m. CDT on October 24, 2023 until 11:59 p.m. CDT on October 30, 2023. The access code for the replay is 5834196.

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 a strong journalistic reputation, intense regional focus and close community ties. Medium Giant is a media and marketing agency of divergent thinkers who devise strategies that deepen connections, expand influence, and scale success for clients nationwide. For additional information, visit dallasnewscorporation.com or email [email protected].

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
[email protected]

DallasNews Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations

(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 September 30, 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

DallasNews Corporation - Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Reconciliation of Operating Loss to Adjusted Operating Loss