Emmis has profitable quarter as radio advertising picks up

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Emmis Communications Corp. on Thursday reported a profitable third quarter despite a 15.6 percent decline in revenue resulting from the sale of several radio stations.

The Indianapolis-based media company earned $712,000, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $279,000, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue was $30.3 million, down from $35.3 million in last year’s third quarter.

The company sold KPWR-FM in Los Angeles and four radio stations in St. Louis over the past year, lowering its radio ownership to 11 FM and three AM stations in New York, Indianapolis and Austin, Texas.

Emmis said it had a strong quarter in terms of advertising sales with most of its stations outperforming competitors.

"With this quarter's strong performance, Emmis is now outperforming its markets through the first nine months of this fiscal year–quite an achievement," Emmis Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan said in written remarks. "Political revenues certainly helped, but we also saw growth in our core advertising categories, all of which contributed to Emmis having its strongest quarter in four years.”

Emmis stock rose 7.8 percent Thursday morning, to $3.88 per share.

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