Univision Communications, acquired by an investor group led by former Viacom CFO Wade Davis, reported a loss for the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter loss was $39.1 million, compared to net income of $94.4 million a year ago.
Also Read: Wade Davis, Donna Speciale Introduce New Univision to Madison Avenue
Revenue rose 4.3% to $722.9 million. Advertising revenue rose from $692 million.
Operating income fell to $72.3 million from $163 million a year ago.
The company said that transaction costs of $59.8 million related to the company’s previous owners and non- cash impairment charges of $55.2 million and a loss on the sale of assets contributed to the loss.
Advertising revenue rose 8.4% to $434.8 million, including $71.6 million in political advertising. Core ad revenue was down 7.3% to $363.2 million.
Television ad revenue rose 7.2% to $335.1 million, including $50.2 million in political spending. Core TV ad revenue fell 7.2% to $284.9 million.
“Univision finished the year delivering impressive operating and financial results and positioning it to begin fully realizing the power of our continuing role as the leading Spanish Language media company in the U.S.” said Davis, now Univision’s CEO.
Also Read: Univision’s PrendeTV to Launch With Key Sponsors
“We are carrying this momentum into 2021 and we will begin unlocking the enormous potential of Univision. We expect to drive meaningful near term growth by optimizing our core businesses and at the same time we will be evolving for the future by investing in our people, content, products and platforms to capture the huge and growing market opportunity to serve Spanish speakers across the U.S.," Davis said.
