Dallasnews Corp (DALN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the DallasNews corporation investor call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. And at this time I'd like to turn the conference call over to your host, Vice President and Controller, Mr. Gary Cobleigh. Please go ahead, sir.

女士們先生們，感謝你們的支持，並歡迎參加達拉斯新聞公司投資者電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音。現在，我想將電話會議轉交給主持人、副總裁兼財務總監加里·科布萊 (Gary Cobleigh) 先生。請繼續，先生。

Good morning, everyone. This is Gary Cobleigh, Vice President, and Controller of DallasNews Corporation. Welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2023 investor call. I'm joined by Katy Murray, President, and Chief Financial Officer, who will be reviewing financial results; and Grant Moise, Chief Executive Officer, who will provide brief business remarks.

大家，早安。我是達拉斯新聞公司副總裁兼財務總監加里‧科布萊 (Gary Cobleigh)。歡迎參加我們的第四季和 2023 年全年投資者電話會議。總裁兼財務長 Katy Murray 也將與我一起審查財務業績；執行長 Grant Moise 將發表簡短的業務演講。

Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release announcing fourth quarter and full year 2023 results and filed our 2023 10-K. Both of these are posted on our website, dallasnewscorporation.com, under the Investor Relations section. Unless otherwise specified comparisons used on today's call measure fourth quarter and full year 2023 performance against fourth quarter and full year 2022 performance.

昨天下午，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布 2023 年第四季和全年業績，並提交了 2023 年 10-K。這些資訊均發佈在我們網站 dallasnewscorporation.com 的「投資者關係」部分下。除非另有說明，今天電話會議中使用的比較是衡量 2023 年第四季度和全年業績與 2022 年第四季度和全年業績的比較。

Our discussion today will include 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. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law. Additional information about these factors is detailed in the company's press releases and publicly available filings with the SEC.

我們今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述受到風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致實際結果與這些陳述有重大差異。除非法律另有要求，否則本公司不承擔更新本通訊中資訊的義務。有關這些因素的更多資​​訊詳見該公司的新聞稿和向 SEC 公開提交的文件。

Today's discussion will include non-GAAP financial measures. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to assist investors in determining performance comparisons to our peers. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included with our press release.

今天的討論將包括非公認會計準則財務指標。我們相信，非公認會計準則財務指標提供了有用的補充信息，可幫助投資者確定與同行的績效比較。我們的新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表。

I'll now turn the call over to Katy.

我現在將把電話轉給凱蒂。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. I'm going to begin by reviewing fourth quarter financial results and will then follow with the full year results.

大家早安，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我將首先回顧第四季度的財務業績，然後是全年業績。

On a GAAP basis for the quarter, DallasNews Corporation reported a net loss of $2.2 million or $0.41 per share and an operating loss of $2.5 million, which includes $2.7 million related to previously announced Voluntary Severance Program that closed in the fourth quarter.

根據公認會計原則，達拉斯新聞公司本季淨虧損 220 萬美元，即每股 0.41 美元，營運虧損 250 萬美元，其中包括與先前宣布的第四季結束的自願遣散計畫相關的 270 萬美元。

Excluding the severance impact, DallasNews would have reported $200,000 operating income in the quarter. In Q4 last year, we reported a net loss of $2.1 million and an operating loss of $1.9 million. On a non-GAAP basis for the quarter, we reported adjusted operating income of $600,000, an improvement of $1.6 million compared to an adjusted operating loss of $1 million reported for the same period last year.

如果排除遣散費的影響，《達拉斯新聞》本季的營業收入將達到 20 萬美元。去年第四季度，我們報告淨虧損 210 萬美元，營運虧損 190 萬美元。根據非公認會計原則，本季調整後營業收入為 60 萬美元，比去年同期報告的調整後營業虧損 100 萬美元增加了 160 萬美元。

The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $6.7 million with the greatest reductions in distribution and employee compensation and benefits. Partially offset by a total revenue decline of $5.1 million. We reported $34 million of total revenue for the quarter. This compares to $39.1 million last year. The year-over-year decline is primarily due to a $5.3 million or 45.6% reduction in print advertising revenue, primarily resulting from the decision to end our shared mail program to deliver weekly preprints and inserts on August 31.

這項改善主要是由於支出節省了 670 萬美元，其中分配以及員工薪資和福利的減少幅度最大。總收入下降 510 萬美元部分抵消了這一影響。我們報告本季總收入為 3400 萬美元。相比之下，去年為 3,910 萬美元。年比下降的主要原因是印刷廣告收入減少了 530 萬美元，即 45.6%，這主要是由於我們決定在 8 月 31 日結束每週提供預印本和插頁的共享郵件計劃。

After accounting for this decline core print advertising was down 5.1% year-over-year. Circulation revenue increased $500,000 when compared to last year, which includes $230,000 from single-copy sales celebrated the Texas Rangers winning the World Series.

考慮到這一下降，核心印刷廣告比去年同期下降了 5.1%。與去年相比，發行收入增加了 50 萬美元，其中包括慶祝德州遊騎兵隊贏得世界大賽的單冊銷售收入 23 萬美元。

Digital-only subscription revenue increased $1.2 million or 34.1%, partially offset by a print circulation decline of $600,000 or 4.8%. On a non-GAAP basis, total adjusted operating expense for the quarter was $33.4 million, an improvement of $6.7 million when compared to the same period last year, driven by expense savings of $3.1 million in distribution, $1.6 million in employee compensation and benefits, $1.1 million in newsprint and $600,000 in outside services.

純數位訂閱收入增加了 120 萬美元，即 34.1%，部分被印刷版發行量下降 60 萬美元或 4.8% 所抵消。以非公認會計準則計算，本季調整後營運費用總額為3,340 萬美元，與去年同期相比增加了670 萬美元，主要得益於分配費用節省310 萬美元、員工薪資和福利費用節省160 萬美元、 110 萬美元的新聞紙和 60 萬美元的外部服務。

The expense reduction of primarily again, the result of the discontinuation of the shared mail program and print only editions of our niche publications, Al Dia and Briefing, at the end of August of last year.

費用的減少主要是由於去年 8 月底停止了共享郵件計劃以及我們的利基出版物《Al Dia》和《Briefing》的純印刷版。

Turning to full-year results, on a GAAP basis, we reported a net loss of $7.1 million or -- $1.33 per share and an operating loss of $8 million, which includes severance expense of $3.8 million. For 2022, we reported a GAAP net loss of $9.8 million and an operating loss of $9 million, which includes severance expense of $800,000.

談到全年業績，按照 GAAP 計算，我們報告的淨虧損為 710 萬美元，即每股 1.33 美元，營運虧損為 800 萬美元，其中包括 380 萬美元的遣散費。 2022 年，我們報告的 GAAP 淨虧損為 980 萬美元，營運虧損為 900 萬美元，其中包括 80 萬美元的遣散費。

On a non-GAAP basis, for the year, we reported an adjusted operating loss of $2.7 million, an improvement of $2.6 million when compared to an adjusted operating loss of $5.3 million for the year 2022. The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $13.5 million with the greatest reductions in distribution costs outside services and newsprint, partially offset by a total revenue decline of $11 million.

根據非公認會計原則，我們今年的調整後營運虧損為 270 萬美元，與 2022 年調整後營運虧損 530 萬美元相比，減少了 260 萬美元。這項改善主要是由於節省了1,350 萬美元，其中服務和新聞紙以外的分銷成本下降幅度最大，但總收入下降1,100 萬美元部分抵消了這一影響。

The $7 million expense savings and distribution and total revenue decline of $11 million again are primarily the result of the discontinuation of the shared mail program and the print only additions. We reported $139.7 million of total revenue for the year, and this compares to $150.7 million last year. The year-over-year decline is primarily due to a print advertising decline of $9.8 million, again driven by the discontinuation of the shared mail program and print only editions of our niche publications.

支出和分配節省了 700 萬美元，總收入再次下降了 1,100 萬美元，這主要是由於共享郵件計劃的終止和僅增加列印內容的結果。我們公佈的今年總收入為 1.397 億美元，而去年為 1.507 億美元。同比下降主要是由於印刷廣告下降了 980 萬美元，這又是由於共享郵件計劃和我們的小眾出版物的純印刷版本的終止所致。

Digital advertising and marketing services revenue declined $900,000 or 3.5%, primarily due to a decline in marketing services revenue, partially offset by an increase in digital advertising on dallasnews.com, and in our digital replica.

數位廣告和行銷服務收入下降了 90 萬美元，即 3.5%，主要是由於行銷服務收入下降，但部分被 dallasnews.com 和我們的數位副本中數位廣告的增加所抵消。

Circulation revenue increased $200,000. This is the third consecutive year of year-over-year growth, again helped by Rangers single-copy sales. As of December 31, the News had 63,000 digital only subscribers, a decrease of 5,010 or 7.4% compared to last year. The decline in digital subscribers is the result of the company's specific focus on balancing volume and price. Total subscribers, including both home delivery and digital subscribers, was 132,694 as of December 31. And this compares to 146,583 as of December 31 of 2022, a quarterly summary of historical print and digital subscriptions also known as memberships saved on our website under the Investor Relations section.

流通收入增加 20 萬美元。這是連續第三年同比增長，再次得益於流浪者隊的單本銷量。截至12月31日，《新聞報》擁有63,000名純數位訂閱者，比去年減少5,010人，即7.4%。數位用戶的下降是該公司特別注重平衡數量和價格的結果。截至 12 月 31 日，訂閱者總數（包括送貨上門和數位訂閱者）為 132,694 人。相比之下，截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，訂閱者總數為 146,583 人。關係部分。

Other revenue decreased $500,000 or 3.1% compared to last year and these are primarily due to reductions in revenue from commercial printing and distribution. On a non-GAAP basis, total adjusted operating expense for the year was $142.4 million, an improvement of $13.5 million or 8.7% when compared to $155.9 million of adjusted operating expense last year.

其他收入與去年相比減少了 50 萬美元，即 3.1%，這主要是由於商業印刷和發行收入的減少。以非公認會計準則計算，本年度調整後營運費用總額為 1.424 億美元，與去年調整後營運費用 1.559 億美元相比，增加了 1,350 萬美元，即 8.7%。

The improvement is primarily due to expense savings of $7 million in distribution, again resulting from the changes in our shared mail program, $2.2 million in outside services, $2.2 million in newsprint, $600,000 in employee compensation and $800,000 in property rental.

這項改善主要是由於我們的共享郵件計劃的變化節省了700 萬美元的分發費用、220 萬美元的外部服務費用、220 萬美元的新聞紙費用、60 萬美元的員工薪酬和80 萬美元的財產租賃費用。

Newsprint expenses favorable year over year, as a result of lower circulation and discontinuing print only editions of Al Dia and Briefing. The newsprint purchase price has continued to trend favorably as of the end of the year, average newsprint inventory cost per metric ton was $687, and this compares to $829 per metric ton in 2022, a decrease of $142 or 17.1%. And I'm pleased to say we are continuing to see favorable pricing so far in 2024.

由於《Al Dia》和《Briefing》的發行量下降以及純印刷版的停產，新聞紙費用逐年有利。截至年底，新聞紙採購價格繼續保持良好趨勢，每噸新聞紙平均庫存成本為 687 美元，與 2022 年每噸 829 美元相比，下降了 142 美元或 17.1%。我很高興地說，2024 年到目前為止，我們將繼續看到優惠的價格。

As of December 31, headcount was 601, down 62 compared to last year. As of the end of February, we had 546 employees, which reflects the departure of most of the 58 employees who elected to participate in the Voluntary Severance Program offered last fall and left the company on January 1. Cash along with short-term investments was $22.5 million as of December 31, and as of March 1, cash was $19 million.

截至12月31日，員工總數為601人，比去年減少62人。截至 2 月底，我們有 546 名員工，這反映了選擇參加去年秋天提供的自願遣散計劃並於 1 月 1 日離開公司的 58 名員工中的大多數人的離職。現金和短期投資截至12 月31日，現金為2,250 萬美元；截至3 月1 日，現金為1,900 萬美元。

For the year, the company recorded $464,000 of tax expense. We expect cash taxes to be approximately $580,000 in 2024, primarily related to the Texas franchise tax. As of December 31, 2023, the company had $54.2 million in federal net operating loss carry [for], $17.5 million expires in 2037 and $36.7 million does not have any expiration.

本年度，該公司記錄的稅費為 464,000 美元。我們預計 2024 年現金稅約為 58 萬美元，主要與德州特許經營稅相關。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，該公司的聯邦淨營業虧損結轉為 5,420 萬美元，其中 1,750 萬美元將於 2037 年到期，3,670 萬美元尚未到期。

In regard to our pension plan, we do not expect to have any mandatory contributions, in 2024 or in 2025. We are pleased with the progress the company made this year toward our long-term strategy, and we were right in line with how we expected to end the year. We remain in a good position on our balance sheet and are encouraged by what we are seeing so far in 2024.

關於我們的退休金計劃，我們預計在2024 年或2025 年不會有任何強制性供款。我們對公司今年在我們的長期策略方面取得的進展感到高興，我們的做法與我們的做法是一致的。預計年底。我們的資產負債表仍處於良好狀態，並且對 2024 年迄今所看到的情況感到鼓舞。

I will now turn the call over to Grant.

我現在將把電話轉給格蘭特。

Thank you, Katy reflecting on 2023, I was pleased with our progress and improving our adjusted operating income. The year was highlighted by exceptional journalism, a strong year of digital subscription revenue growth and a disciplined approach to managing the decline of the print business.

謝謝凱蒂，回顧 2023 年，我對我們的進步和調整後營業收入的提高感到滿意。今年的亮點是出色的新聞業、數位訂閱收入成長強勁的一年以及應對印刷業務衰退的嚴格方法。

Starting with our journalism, our year was highlighted by two strong series that framed important issues facing North Texans. First, our newsroom created a 30 day series in September entitled Deadly Fake, which highlighted the threat of fentanyl in our community and helped inform North Texans about the threat of this deadly drug.

從我們的新聞工作開始，我們今年的亮點是兩個強有力的系列報道，這些系列報道了北德克薩斯人面臨的重要問題。首先，我們的新聞編輯室在9 月創建了一個為期30 天的系列節目，題為“致命假藥”，該系列強調了我們社區中芬太尼的威脅，並幫助讓北德克薩斯人了解這種致命藥物的威脅。

Second our editorial board focused on a six part series throughout the year that was called the unraveling of Latin America, where we helped North Texans understand the root causes of the immigration problems on our southern border. This outstanding journalism largely contributed to what Katy referred to as our third consecutive year of membership revenue growth because we remain committed to pricing our digital membership at a premium rate.

其次，我們的編輯委員會全年重點關註一個由六部分組成的系列，稱為“拉丁美洲的瓦解”，其中我們幫助北德克薩斯人了解我們南部邊境移民問題的根本原因。這種出色的新聞報導在很大程度上促成了凱蒂所說的我們會員收入連續第三年的增長，因為我們仍然致力於以溢價定價我們的數位會員。

Last, I'm proud of our Medium Giant team's discipline when we chose to exit the shared mail business In August of last year. Medium Giant continues to offer advertisers the products and services they value most, and it was clear from the rapid decline in our shared mail revenue that advertisers no longer saw value in this product offering.

最後，我為我們的 Medium Giant 團隊在去年 8 月選擇退出共享郵件業務時的紀律感到自豪。 Medium Giant 繼續為廣告商提供他們最重視的產品和服務，從我們共享郵件收入的快速下降可以明顯看出，廣告商不再看到該產品的價值。

Looking ahead to 2024, we've recently added Chris Patheiger to our team as the company's Chief Product and Innovation Officer. We brought Chris on board to enhance our digital product offering and build new digital products to reach new audiences. We are in the early stages of Chris's work, but our goal is to expand our product portfolio to reach new audiences and provide new sources of revenue growth for the company.

展望 2024 年，我們最近將 Chris Patheiger 加入我們的團隊中，擔任公司的首席產品和創新長。我們邀請克里斯加入，以增強我們的數位產品供應，並開發新的數位產品來吸引新受眾。我們正處於克里斯工作的早期階段，但我們的目標是擴大我們的產品組合以吸引新的受眾並為公司提供新的收入成長來源。

John, we will now open it up questions.

約翰，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) We have no callers queuing up with questions.

（操作員說明）我們沒有排隊提問的來電者。

All right, John, thank you very much for your assistance this morning, everyone, who has joined. Thank you again for listening to our fourth quarter and full year 2023 results and we look forward to updating everyone with our progress on our first quarter of 2024 earnings call, which will be handled sometime in the second quarter. Thank you.

好的，約翰，非常感謝今天早上所有加入的人的幫助。再次感謝您收聽我們的 2023 年第四季和全年業績，我們期待在 2024 年第一季財報電話會議上向大家通報我們的最新進展，該電話會議將在第二季的某個時候處理。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude your conference call for today. We do thank you for your participation and for using AT&T event conferencing, you may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的參與和使用 AT&T 活動會議，您現在可以斷開連線。