Meredith Reports Record Fiscal 2017 Revenue And Earnings

Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP; meredith.com) — the leading media and marketing company with local television brands in large, fast-growing markets and national brands serving more than 110 million American women every month — reported today record fiscal 2017 full year and fourth quarter results.

Meredith introduces an updated market positioning and logo that reflect the strength of Meredith’s national and local consumer media brands as well as its expanded portfolio of marketing solutions. (PRNewsFoto/Meredith Corporation) (PRNewsfoto/Meredith Corporation)

“We delivered record revenue and profit in fiscal 2017 as we continue to aggressively execute our multi-platform growth strategies, including rapid expansion of our highly profitable digital activities,” said Meredith Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Lacy.  “Additionally, we delivered strong cash flow and higher profit margins.  This enabled us to continue successful execution of our Total Shareholder Return (TSR) strategy.”

Fiscal 2017 financial highlights, compared to the prior year, included:
•Earnings per share were $4.16, compared to $0.75.
•Excluding special items in both periods, earnings per share grew to $4.00, an increase of more than 20 percent. (See Tables 1-5 for supplemental disclosures regarding non-GAAP financial measures.)
•Operating profit margin grew to 18 percent.
•Total Company revenues grew 4 percent to a record $1.7 billion, and total advertising revenues grew 2 percent to $934 million.

“We expanded our audience across media platforms and launched new products to strengthen our competitive position with Millennial consumers and advertisers wanting to reach them,” said Meredith President and COO Tom Harty. “We continued to deliver double-digit gains in digital advertising revenue, which offset print declines on a comparable basis.  Additionally, we generated a record $63 million of political advertising revenues and increased net retransmission contribution.”

Fiscal 2017 fourth quarter earnings per share were $0.95, compared to a loss of $2.03 per share in the prior-year period.  Excluding special items in both periods, earnings per share were $1.07, compared to $1.08 in the prior-year period.  Fourth quarter fiscal 2017 total Company revenues increased to $445 million.

Meredith continued to aggressively execute a series of well-defined strategic initiatives in fiscal 2017 to generate growth in revenue and operating profit, and increase shareholder value over time.  These included:
•Increasing Meredith’s powerful consumer connection – Consumer engagement expanded across Meredith’s media platforms, including magazine readership, digital and mobile traffic and sales of branded product at retail.
•Rapidly growing digital, mobile, video and social platforms – Total Company digital advertising revenues grew 20 percent. National Media Group digital advertising increased more than 20 percent and represented more than 30 percent of its total advertising. Local Media Group digital advertising rose more than 15 percent. Traffic across Meredith’s digital properties averaged 86 million unique visitors per month, an increase of 8 percent over the prior year.
•Generating record political advertising revenues – Meredith’s television stations generated $63 million of political advertising revenues, an increase of 43 percent compared to the fiscal 2015 election cycle.
•Expanding Meredith’s media portfolio:
◦In its Local Media Group, Meredith acquired Peachtree TV (WPCH) in Atlanta, the nation’s 10th largest market. With WPCH, Meredith created its fifth owned-and-operated duopoly. To further strengthen its competitive position, Meredith added newscasts in Atlanta, Phoenix, Portland, Nashville, Greenville and Flint/Saginaw.
◦In its National Media Group, Meredith launched The Magnolia Journal, an extension of Joanna and Chip Gaines’ popular Magnolia brand. It quickly became the strongest-selling newsstand title in Meredith’s recent history and is currently selling more than 900,000 copies of each issue.
•Successful renewal of key strategic agreements:
◦In its Local Media Group, Meredith renewed its CBS affiliation agreements for its stations in Atlanta, Phoenix, Kansas City and Flint/Saginaw into fiscal 2021. It also extended its FOX agreements in Portland, Las Vegas, Greenville, Mobile and Springfield into fiscal 2019.
◦In its National Media Group, Meredith renewed its licensing program with Walmart. This program features more than 3,000 SKUs of Better Homes & Gardens branded products at 5,000 Walmart stores and on walmart.com. In addition, Meredith launched several new brand licensing programs, including a very well-received EatingWell line of frozen entrées and a Shape line of apparel for women.
•Successful execution of its TSR strategy – Meredith generated TSR of 18 percent in Fiscal 2017. Meredith increased its dividend by 5.1 percent to $2.08 per share on an annualized basis, its 24th consecutive year of dividend growth. The dividend is currently yielding approximately 3.5 percent.
more detail at:  https://ir.meredith.com/news-releases/press-release-details/2017/Meredith-Reports-Record-Fiscal-2017-Revenue-And-Earnings/default.aspx

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