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TEGNA Inc. Reports First Quarter 2025 Results and Provides Second Quarter Guidance

Achieves first quarter key guidance metrics

Reaffirms 2024/2025 two-year Adjusted Free Cash Flow guidance

TYSONS, Va., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

“We’re making important progress on the key initiatives that are shaping TEGNA’s future,” said Mike Steib, CEO. “While the macro environment remains volatile, we’re staying focused on execution, reinventing how we serve our local communities to maximize the full opportunity across both linear TV and digital. With industry-leading brands, top talent, and a strong balance sheet, we are well-positioned to win.”

FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
All Year-Over-Year Comparisons Unless Otherwise Noted:

_______________
1 See Table 3 for details
2 See Table 4 for details
3 See Table 5 for details
4 See Table 6 for details

KEY BUSINESS UPDATES:

INCOME STATEMENT RECLASSIFICATION

Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, we are renaming our subscription revenue to now be called distribution revenue and expanding this category to include other distribution revenues that were previously reported under “Other revenues” and “AMS revenues.” This revenue category primarily consists of fees paid by satellite, cable, streaming apps (services that deliver video content to consumers over the internet) and telecommunications providers to carry our television signals on their systems. Distribution revenue also includes amounts we earn from licensing content to outside parties for re-distribution. This new presentation results in the consolidated disclosure of the amounts we earn from all sources of content and programming distribution. We have recast the prior year amounts, which were immaterial, to conform to this new presentation5.

_______________
5
See Table 7 for details

FULL-YEAR AND SECOND QUARTER 2025 OUTLOOK:

Full-Year 2025 Key Guidance Metrics    
         
2024/2025 Two-Year Adjusted FCF       $900 million – 1.1 billion
         
Corporate Expenses       $40 – 45 million
Depreciation       $60 – 65 million
Amortization       $33 – 37 million
Interest Expense       $165 – 170 million
Capital Expenditures     $50 – 60 million
Effective Tax Rate       22.0 – 23.0%
Second Quarter 2025 Key Guidance Metrics    
         
Reflects expectations relative to second quarter 2024 results    
         
Total Company GAAP Revenue     Down -4% to -7%
Total Non-GAAP Operating Expenses     Flat to down -2%
         

CONFERENCE CALL
TEGNA will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, May 8, 2025, to discuss the Company’s financial results and other business matters. The teleconference will begin at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time and will be hosted by Mike Steib, Chief Executive Officer, and Julie Heskett, Chief Financial Officer.

The conference call will be webcast on the company’s website, and is open to investors, the financial community, the media and other members of the public. To access the meeting by phone, please visit investors.TEGNA.com at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to access the links and register before the conference call begins. Once registered, phone participants will receive dial-in numbers and a unique PIN to access the call.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this 8-K earnings release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the “safe harbor” provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Without limitation, any statements preceded or followed by or that include the words “targets,” “plans,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “likely,” “may,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “might,” “expect,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “future,” “potential,” “forecast,” “outlook,” or words, phrases or terms of similar substance or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding TEGNA’s future financial and operating results (including growth and earnings), capital allocation framework, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment and current views, projections, estimates, expectations, plans, assumptions and beliefs about future events (in each case subject to change) of TEGNA’s senior management and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which may be beyond our control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those views, projections, estimates, expectations, plans, assumptions and beliefs expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to:

The list of factors above is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the matters addressed in this 8-K earnings release and attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by these cautionary statements.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, these expectations may not be achieved. We may change our intentions, beliefs or expectations at any time and without notice, based upon any change in our assumptions or otherwise. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) helps people thrive in their local communities by providing the trusted local news and services that matter most. Together, we are building a sustainable future for local news. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA reaches more than 100 million people on a monthly basis across the web, mobile apps, streaming, and linear television. For more information, visit TEGNA.com.

     
For media inquiries, contact:   For investor inquiries, contact:
Molly McMahon   Julie Heskett
Senior Director, Corporate Communications   Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
703-873-6440   703-873-6747
mmcmahon@TEGNA.com   investorrelations@TEGNA.com
     
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars (except per share amounts)
 
Table No. 1
 
  Quarter ended Mar. 31,  
  2025
  2024
  Change
                 
Revenues $ 680,049     $ 714,252       (5 %)
                 
Operating expenses:                
Cost of revenues   440,991       430,567       2 %
Business units – Selling, general and administrative expenses   95,547       102,260       (7 %)
Corporate – General and administrative expenses   10,156       14,798       (31 %)
Depreciation   15,479       14,310       8 %
Amortization of intangible assets   8,853       13,660       (35 %)
Asset impairment and other         1,097     ***  
Total   571,026       576,692       (1 %)
Operating income   109,023       137,560       (21 %)
                 
Non-operating (expense) income:                
Interest expense   (41,811 )     (42,368 )     (1 %)
Interest income   8,073       5,573       45 %
Other non-operating items, net   (1,817 )     149,758     ***  
Total   (35,555 )     112,963     ***  
                 
Income before income taxes   73,468       250,523       (71 %)
Provision for income taxes   15,161       61,261       (75 %)
Net income   58,307       189,262       (69 %)
Net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest   364       298       22 %
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc. $ 58,671     $ 189,560       (69 %)
                 
Earnings per share:                
Basic $ 0.36     $ 1.06       (66 %)
Diluted $ 0.36     $ 1.06       (66 %)
                 
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:                
Basic shares   160,849       177,823       (10 %)
Diluted shares   161,917       178,437       (9 %)
                       
*** Not meaningful                      
                       
REVENUE CATEGORIES
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars
 
Table No. 2
 
Below is a detail of our primary sources of revenue:
 
  Quarter ended Mar. 31,
  2025
  2024
  Change
               
Distribution $ 379,556     $ 380,503     (0 %)
Advertising & Marketing Services   286,397       296,109     (3 %)
Political   3,616       27,828     (87 %)
Other   10,480       9,812     7 %
Total revenues $ 680,049     $ 714,252     (5 %)
               

USE OF NON-GAAP INFORMATION

The company uses non-GAAP financial performance and liquidity measures to supplement the financial information presented on a GAAP basis. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the related GAAP measures, nor should they be considered superior to the related GAAP measures and should be read together with financial information presented on a GAAP basis. Also, our non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Management and the company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) regularly use Employee compensation, Corporate–General and administrative expenses, Operating expenses, Operating income, Income before income taxes, Provision for income taxes, Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc., and Diluted earnings per share, each presented on a non-GAAP basis, for purposes of evaluating company performance. Management and the Board also use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted free cash flow to evaluate company performance and liquidity, respectively. The Leadership Development and Compensation Committee of our Board uses non-GAAP measures such as Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS, and Adjusted free cash flow to evaluate and compensate senior management. The Board uses Adjusted free cash flow in its periodic assessments of, among other things, repurchases of the company’s common stock, the company’s dividends, strategic opportunities and long-term debt retirement. The company, therefore, believes that each of the non-GAAP measures presented provides useful information to investors and other stakeholders by allowing them to view our business through the eyes of management and our Board, facilitating comparisons of results across historical periods and focus on the underlying ongoing operating performance of our business. The company also believes these non-GAAP measures are frequently used by investors, securities analysts and other interested parties in their evaluation of our business and other companies in the broadcast industry.

The company discusses in this release non-GAAP financial performance and liquidity measures that exclude from its reported GAAP results the impact of “special items” consisting of asset impairment and other, merger and acquisition (M&A)-related costs, retention costs, earnout adjustments, workforce restructuring, and a gain related to the sale of the company’s investment in Broadcast Music Inc. (“BMI”). The company believes that such expenses and gains are not indicative of normal, ongoing operations. While these items should not be disregarded in evaluation of our earnings or liquidity performance, it is useful to exclude such items when analyzing current results and trends compared to other periods as these items can vary significantly from period to period depending on specific underlying transactions or events that may occur. Therefore, while we may incur or recognize these types of expenses, charges and gains, in the future, the company believes that removing these items for purposes of calculating the non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with a more focused presentation of our ongoing operating performance.

The company also discusses Adjusted EBITDA (with and without stock-based compensation expense), a non-GAAP financial performance measure that it believes offers a useful view of the overall operation of its businesses. The company defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to TEGNA before (1) net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest, (2) income taxes, (3) interest expense, (4) interest income, (5) other non-operating items, net, (6) M&A-related costs, (7) employee retention costs, (8) workforce restructuring costs, (9) asset impairment and other, (10) earnout adjustments, (11) depreciation and (12) amortization of intangible assets. The company believes these adjustments facilitate company-to-company operating performance comparisons by removing potential differences caused by variations unrelated to operating performance, such as capital structures (interest expense), income taxes, and the age and book appreciation of property and equipment (and related depreciation expense). The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to Adjusted EBITDA is Net income attributable to TEGNA. Users should consider the limitations of using Adjusted EBITDA, including the fact that this measure does not provide a complete measure of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to purport to be an alternate to net income as a measure of operating performance or to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. In particular, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of cash flow available for management’s discretionary expenditures, as this measure does not consider certain cash requirements, such as working capital needs, capital expenditures, contractual commitments, interest payments, tax payments and other debt service requirements.

This earnings release also discusses Adjusted free cash flow, a non-GAAP liquidity measure. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to Adjusted free cash flow is Net cash flow from operating activities. Adjusted free cash flow is defined as Net cash flow from operating activities less payments for purchases of property and equipment plus or minus special items. The company removes special items affecting cash flow from operating activities because we do not consider these items to be indicative of its underlying cash flow generation for the reporting period. Adjusted free cash flow is not intended to be a measure of residual cash available for management’s discretionary use since it omits significant sources and uses of cash flow including mandatory debt repayments. The company’s 2024/2025 Two-Year Adjusted free cash flow guidance of $900 million to $1.1 billion remains the same.

This earnings release also presents our net leverage ratio which includes Adjusted EBITDA (without stock-based compensation) as a component of the computation. Our net leverage ratio is a financial measure that is used by management to assess the borrowing capacity of the company and management believes it is useful to investors for the same reason. The company defines its net leverage ratio as (a) net debt (total debt less cash and cash equivalents) as of the balance sheet date divided by (b) Average Annual Adjusted EBITDA for the trailing two-year period.

The company is furnishing forward-looking guidance with respect to Adjusted free cash flow for the combined 2024-25 years, corporate expenses for fiscal year 2025 and non-GAAP operating expenses for the second quarter of 2025. Our future GAAP financial results will include the impact of special items such as retention costs. The company believes that such expenses are not indicative of normal, ongoing operations. While these items should not be disregarded in evaluation of our earnings performance, it is useful to exclude such items when analyzing current results and trends compared to other periods. Therefore, while we may incur or recognize these types of expenses in the future, the company believes that removing these items for purposes of calculating the non-GAAP basis financial measures provides investors with a more focused presentation of our ongoing operating performance.

The company is not able to reconcile these amounts to their comparable GAAP financial measures without unreasonable efforts because certain information necessary to calculate such measures on a GAAP basis is unavailable, dependent on future events outside of our control and cannot be predicted. An example of such information is share-based compensation, which is impacted by future share price movement in the company’s stock price and also dependent on future hiring and attrition. In addition, the company believes such reconciliations could imply a degree of precision that might be confusing or misleading to investors. The actual effect of the reconciling items that the company may exclude from these non-GAAP expense numbers, when determined, may be significant to the calculation of the comparable GAAP measures.

 
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars (except per share amounts)
 
Table No. 3
 
Reconciliations of certain line items impacted by special items to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP on the company’s Consolidated Statements of Income follow:
 
          Special Items        
Quarter ended Mar. 31, 2025   GAAP
measure
    Earnout
adjustment
    Retention costs – SBC     Retention costs – Cash     Non-GAAP
measure
 
                               
Employee compensation   $ 173,180     $     $ (826 )   $ (370 )   $ 171,984  
Corporate – General and administrative expenses     10,156             (231 )     (171 )     9,754  
Operating expenses     571,026       (1,697 )     (826 )     (370 )     568,133  
Operating income     109,023       1,697       826       370       111,916  
Income before income taxes     73,468       1,697       826       370       76,361  
Provision for income taxes     15,161       435       149       69       15,814  
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.     58,671       1,262       677       301       60,911  
Earnings per share – diluted   $ 0.36     $ 0.01     $     $     $ 0.37  
          Special Items        
Quarter ended Mar. 31, 2024   GAAP
measure
    Retention costs – SBC     Retention costs – Cash     M&A related costs     Workforce restructuring     Asset impairment and other     Other non-operating item     Non-GAAP
measure
 
                                                 
Employee compensation   $ 188,561     $ (2,893 )   $ (570 )   $     $ (1,807 )   $     $     $ 183,291  
Corporate – General and administrative expenses     14,798       (752 )     (221 )     (2,290 )     (111 )                 11,424  
Operating expenses     576,692       (2,893 )     (570 )     (2,290 )     (1,807 )     (1,097 )           568,035  
Operating income     137,560       2,893       570       2,290       1,807       1,097             146,217  
Income before income taxes     250,523       2,893       570       2,290       1,807       1,097       (152,867 )     106,313  
Provision for income taxes     61,261       431       77       593       445       284       (36,621 )     26,470  
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.     189,560       2,462       493       1,697       1,362       813       (116,246 )     80,141  
Earnings per share – diluted(a)   $ 1.06     $ 0.01     $     $ 0.01     $ 0.01     $     $ (0.65 )   $ 0.45  


(a)
Per share amounts do not sum due to rounding.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars
 
Table No. 4
 
Reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA to net income presented in accordance with GAAP on the company’s Consolidated Statements of Income are presented below:
 
  Quarter ended Mar. 31,  
  2025
  2024
           
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc. (GAAP basis) $ 58,671     $ 189,560  
Less: Net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest   (364 )     (298 )
Plus: Provision for income taxes   15,161       61,261  
Plus: Interest expense   41,811       42,368  
Less: Interest income   (8,073 )     (5,573 )
Plus (Less): Other non-operating items, net   1,817       (149,758 )
Operating income (GAAP basis)   109,023       137,560  
Plus: Octillion earnout adjustment   1,697        
Plus: Retention costs – employee awards stock-based compensation   826       2,893  
Plus: Retention costs – cash   370       570  
Plus: M&A-related costs         2,290  
Plus: Asset impairment and other         1,097  
Plus: Workforce restructuring         1,807  
Adjusted operating income (non-GAAP basis)   111,916       146,217  
Plus: Depreciation   15,479       14,310  
Plus: Amortization of intangible assets   8,853       13,660  
Adjusted EBITDA $ 136,248     $ 174,187  
Stock-based compensation expenses:          
Employee awards   6,269       8,240  
Company stock 401(k) match contributions   4,669       5,429  
Adjusted EBITDA before stock-based compensation costs $ 147,186     $ 187,856  
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars
 
Table No. 5
 
Reconciliation of Adjusted free cash flow to Net cash flow from operating activities presented in accordance with GAAP on the company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows is presented below:
 
  March 31, 2025  
  Quarter  
     
Net cash flow from operating activities (GAAP basis) $ 59,629  
     
Less: Purchases of property and equipment   (4,946 )
     
Special items:    
Workforce restructuring   7,166  
Retention costs – cash   129  
Total Adjustments   7,295  
     
Adjusted free cash flow (non-GAAP basis) $ 61,978  
 
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars
 
Table No. 6
 
The following table reconciles our total outstanding debt.
 
    Mar. 31, 2025  
Total outstanding principal $ 3,090,000  
Less: Cash and cash equivalents   (716,647 )
Net debt (numerator) $ 2,373,353  
The following table shows the calculation of the average annual Adjusted EBITDA before stock-based compensation over the trailing two-year period (“T2Y”).
 
Adjusted EBITDA before stock-based compensation:
First quarter of 20251 $ 147,186  
Plus: Year ended December 31, 20242   978,753  
Plus: Year ended December 31, 20232   781,562  
Less: First quarter of 20233   (214,204 )
Combined T2Y $ 1,693,297  
Divided by   2  
T2Y Adjusted EBITDA (denominator) $ 846,649  
The following table shows the calculation of the net leverage ratio.
 
    Mar. 31, 2025  
Net debt (numerator) $ 2,373,353  
T2Y Adjusted EBITDA (denominator) $ 846,649  
Net Leverage Ratio   2.8 x


1
A non-GAAP measure detailed in Table 4.
2 Refer to page 34 of the 2024 Form 10-K for reconciliations of 2024 and 2023 Adjusted EBITDA before stock-based compensation costs to net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.
3 Refer to page 22 in our Q1 2024 Form 10-Q for reconciliations of our Q1 2023 Adjusted EBITDA before stock-based compensation costs to net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
TEGNA Inc.
Unaudited, in thousands of dollars
 
Table No. 7
 
Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, we renamed our subscription revenue to now be called distribution revenue and expanded it to include other distribution revenues formerly reported in Other revenues and AMS revenues. The table below includes quarterly revenue amounts recast to conform to the new revenue classification categories.
 
  Q1 2024     Q2 2024     Q3 2024     Q4 2024     Year ended 2024  
Distribution $ 380,503     $ 371,204     $ 361,585     $ 362,783     $ 1,476,075  
Advertising & Marketing Services   296,109       298,529       309,661       310,341       1,214,640  
Political   27,828       31,643       126,318       187,440       373,229  
Other   9,812       8,987       9,263       9,965       38,027  
Total revenues $ 714,252     $ 710,363     $ 806,827     $ 870,529     $ 3,101,971  


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