Tegna said it expects to report a 193% to 199% increase in fourth quarter net income as political advertising during the Georgia Senate runoffs contributed to record revenue.
In a preliminary fourth quarter report, Tegna said net income is expected to be between $246 million and $251 million, with revenue of between $932 and $927 million.
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The broadcaster said political advertising will be about $264 million for the fourth quarter, including $50 million generated because of the Georgia runoffs.
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Tegna will report its earnings on March 1.
For the full year, net income is expected to rise between 69% and 71% to $484 million to $490 million. Revenue is seen rising 27% to 28% to $2.932 billion to $2.937 billion.
Tegna’s Premion advanced advertising unit is expected to finish the year with more than $145 million in revenue, up 40%.
For 2021, CEO Dave Lougee said subscription revenue, including retransmission consent, is expected to grow by mid-to-high teens percent.
With the recent renewal of its affiliation agreement with NBC, “we now project net subscription profits to grow in the mid-to-high twenties percent in 2021,” Lougee said.
"Our underlying advertising and marketing services revenue trends continued to improve in the fourth quarter, and while it is early, that trend is continuing nicely in the first quarter of 2021, with automotive continuing to show improvement in January,” Lougee said. “The combination of our firepower and the strength of our balance sheet affords us tremendous financial flexibility into 2021 and beyond."
Tegna also said that its board authorized the renewal of its $300 million share repurchase program.
