New Media Announces Third Quarter 2014 Results and Dividend of $0.27 per Common Share

New Media Investment Group Inc. (NYSE:NEWM; “New Media” or the “Company”) today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 28, 2014.

Financial Summary:

• New Media declares a cash dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock for the third quarter of 2014
• Total revenues of $165.1 million, an increase of 31.0% to prior year, and an increase of 2.3% on a same store basis*
• Digital revenue of $14.5 million, an increase of 6.3% on a same store basis*
• GAAP net (loss) of ($4.7) million and as adjusted net income was $4.2 million, or $0.14 per share*
• As Adjusted EBITDA of $21.7 million, an increase of 12.2% to prior year, or a decrease of 10.6% on a same store basis*
• Free cash flow of $15.9 million, or $0.52 per share, an increase of $7.9 million, or 99.1% on a same store basis*
• Operating income of $4.6 million
• Liquidity, consisting of cash on the balance sheet and undrawn revolver, was $145.1 million as of September 28, 2014

Business Highlights:

• Completed approximately $116.7 million equity raise, net of underwriting fees, increasing our liquidity position and opportunity to execute on our strategy
• Closed on three acquisitions with a total purchase price of $61.3 million

Michael E. Reed, New Media President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “I’m very pleased with New Media’s financial performance in the third quarter. Our investments in our newspaper and digital businesses continue to positively impact our revenue trends. We believe our results support our view that local newspapers in smaller markets remain central to those communities, and that our evolving revenue mix, with a greater emphasis on stable or growing categories, is leading to stabilization of our business. Our third quarter revenue results were driven by strong growth in our Digital and Commercial Print businesses which were up 6.3% and 5.6%, respectively. Despite some seasonality we are now beginning to see in our Propel business during the summer months, our digital services business continues to see very strong growth with third quarter revenue up $2.9 million, or 167.5%, over the prior year. Our Circulation and Preprint revenue businesses continue to be stable, which contributes to our improving overall revenue trends.

“Our As Adjusted EBITDA was strong in the quarter at $21.7 million, while continuing to make investments in both our print and digital businesses. We believe these investments will drive future improvement in our overall revenue trends. New Media’s cash flow was also very strong with nearly 75% of our As Adjusted EBITDA converting to free cash flow. Free cash flow in the quarter was $15.9 million, or $0.52 per share. We are also pleased that the Board has authorized a dividend for the quarter of $0.27 per share of common stock.

“Lastly, I’m very excited to announce that New Media successfully completed an equity offering during the quarter raising approximately $116.7 million of net proceeds. The equity better positions the Company to be able to execute on its acquisition strategy, and importantly, move quickly on potential transactions. Our pipeline for acquisitions remains robust and as a reminder, during the third quarter, New Media acquired three local media assets for a total purchase price of $61.3 million. Overall, we remain excited about our ability to execute on both our organic and acquisition strategy, which together, we believe will continue to drive shareholder returns.”

Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results

New Media recorded revenues of $165.1 million for the quarter, which represents an increase of 31.0% when compared to the prior year, and an increase of 2.3% on a same store basis.

Total Print Advertising increased 1.2% on a same store basis driven by Classified Print and Preprints revenue which increased 2.8% and 3.9%, respectively, and Local Display which decreased 1.4% on a same store basis. Classified Print revenue trends continue to show improvement over prior quarters driven by growth in obituaries revenue, and more stable legals advertising. Strength in Preprint revenue is partially being driven by our successful Sunday Select program. New Media’s Digital and Commercial Printing and Other businesses also contributed to the Company’s strong revenue performance increasing 6.3% and 5.6%, respectively, from the prior year on a same store basis. Propel contributed $4.6 million to the third quarter Digital revenue, an increase of $2.9 million from the prior year.

Total expenses in the quarter of $143.4 million were up $6.3 million, or 4.6%, compared to the prior year on a same store basis after adjusting for non-recurring and non-cash items. Expense increases are driven partially by investments in our digital and print initiatives, which we believe are leading to improved revenue trends. Investments are being made in our businesses and products, such as Propel, BestRide and Sunday Select.

Net (loss) for the quarter was ($4.7) million, compared to ($129.2) million in the prior year. After adjusting for expenses related to the acquisitions, financing and restructuring, and reversing tax benefits recorded in the first half of the year, our as adjusted net income was $4.2 million, or $0.14 per share. The acquisition, financing and restructuring expenses incurred were $4.7 million, and the reversal of the tax benefit from the first half of the year was $4.2 million.

As Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $21.7 million, which increased $2.4 million or 12.2% over the prior year, and decreased $2.6 million or 10.6% on a same store basis. The decrease on a same store basis was driven by expense investments as noted above.

Free cash flow for the quarter was $15.9 million, or $0.52 per share, which increased $7.9 million, or 99.1% versus the prior year on a same store basis. Operating income of $4.6 million was an increase versus ($90.1) million in the prior year.

Liquidity at the end of the quarter was approximately $145.1 million comprised of $135.1 million of unrestricted cash on the balance sheet and $10.0 million of revolver available.

Third Quarter 2014 Dividend

New Media’s Board of Directors declared a third quarter 2014 cash dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on November 20, 2014 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2014.

The declaration and payment of any dividends are at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors, which may decide to change the Company’s dividend policy at any time.

Additional Information

For additional information that management believes to be useful for investors, please refer to the presentation posted on the Investor Relations section of New Media’s website, www.newmediainv.com and the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which will be available on the Company’s website. Nothing on our website is included or incorporated by reference herein.

Earnings Conference Call

New Media’s management will host a conference call on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time. A copy of the earnings release will be posted to the Investor Relations section of New Media’s website, www.newmediainv.com.

All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-877-601-8827 (from within the U.S.) or 1-918-534-8645 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference “New Media Third Quarter Earnings Call.”

A simultaneous webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.newmediainv.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the website and download any necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available approximately two hours following the call’s completion through 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 13, 2014 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (from within the U.S.) or 1-404-537-3406 (from outside of the U.S.); please reference access code “19188142.”

Fortress Public Filings, Earnings Release and Conference Call

Certain financial information and results for New Media may be disclosed by Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG, “Fortress”) in annual and quarterly reports and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as in earnings releases and conference calls. These disclosures may occur prior to the release of this information by New Media.

Management of Fortress will host a conference call on October 30, 2014 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time. All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. The Fortress conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-877-694-6694 (from within the U.S.) or 1-970-315-0985 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference “Fortress Third Quarter Earnings Call.” A simultaneous webcast of the Fortress conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.fortress.com on the Investor Relations page. A copy of the Fortress earnings release will be posted to the Investor Relations section of Fortress’ website, www.fortress.com. Nothing on the Fortress website is included or incorporated by reference herein.

About New Media Investment Group Inc.

New Media is focused primarily on investing in a high quality, diversified portfolio of local media assets, and on growing existing advertising and digital marketing businesses. The Company is one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States as measured by the number of daily publications. The Company operates in over 370 markets across 27 states. New Media’s portfolio of products which include 450 community publications, over 370 related websites, and six yellow page directories, serve more than 130,000 business advertising accounts and reach over 14 million people on a weekly basis.

For more information regarding New Media and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.newmediainv.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company strongly urges stockholders and other interested persons not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate its business. In addition, because same store results, Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and as adjusted net income, are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, these non-GAAP measures, as presented in this press release, may differ from and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Same Store Results

Same store results, a non-GAAP financial measure, take into account material acquisitions and divestitures of the Company by adjusting prior year performance to include or exclude financial results as if the Company had owned or divested a business for the comparable period. The acquisition of each of Victorville, American Consolidated Media Southwest and Petersburg Progress-Index is not considered material.

Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow

The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax expense (benefit), interest/financing expense, depreciation and amortization and non-cash impairments. The Company defines As Adjusted EBITDA as Adjusted EBITDA before other non-cash items such as non-cash compensation, non-recurring integration and reorganization costs and Adjusted EBITDA from non-wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company defines free cash flow as As Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, cash taxes, interest paid and pension payments.

Management’s Use of Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow

Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to income from operations, net income (loss), cash flow from continuing operating activities or any other measure of performance or liquidity derived in accordance with GAAP. New Media’s management believes these non-GAAP measures, as defined above, are useful to investors for the following reasons:

• Evaluating performance and identifying trends in day-to-day performance because the items excluded have little or no significance on its day-to-day operations;
• Providing assessments of controllable expenses that afford management the ability to make decisions which are expected to facilitate meeting current financial goals as well as achieving optimal financial performance; and
• Indicators for management to determine if adjustments to current spending decisions are needed.

Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow provide New Media with measures of financial performance, independent of items that are beyond the control of management in the short-term, such as depreciation and amortization, taxation and interest expense associated with its capital structure. These metrics measure New Media’s financial performance based on operational factors that management can impact in the short-term, namely the cost structure or expenses of the organization. Adjusted EBITDA, As Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are some of the metrics used by senior management and the Board of Directors to review the financial performance of the business on a monthly basis. In addition, New Media’s management utilizes these metrics to evaluate the Company’s performance, along with other criteria, to determine the funds available for paying the quarterly dividend.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain items in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our investments in our newspaper and print businesses positively impacting revenue trends, focus on local news in smaller markets is leading to stabilization of our business, intention to stabilize our traditional print business, growing digital services business, revenues and pursuing and complete future acquisition opportunities in a timely manner and the benefits associated with such opportunities, and improving revenue trends driven by investments in digital and print initiatives. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, such as continued declines in advertising and circulation revenues, economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, competition from other media companies, the possibility of insufficient interest in our digital business, technological developments in the media sector, an ability to source acquisition opportunities with an attractive risk-adjusted return profile, inadequate diligence of acquisition targets, and difficulties integrating newly acquired businesses. These and other risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond our control. The Company can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements contained in this press release. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could cause actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements, see the risks and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict or assess the impact of every factor that may cause its actual results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

1) Non-cash loss on derivative instruments is related to interest rate swap agreements which are financing related and are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA.