Business
Lee Enterprises nears digital sustainability with revenue inflection point
Total Digital Revenue(1) represented 50% of total revenueDigital-only subscription revenue increased 34%(2) with subscriptions up 23%Amplified Digital® Agency
About this update from Lee Enterprises, Incorporated
[{"type":"text","content":"Total Digital Revenue(1) represented 50% of total revenueDigital-only subscription revenue increased 34%(2) with subscriptions up 23%Amplified Digital® Agency revenue totaled $26M, up 12% YOY(2) DAVENPORT, Iowa, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: LEE), a digital-first subscription platform providing high quality, trusted, local news, information and a major platform for advertising in 73 markets, today reported preliminary third quarter fiscal 2024 financial results(3) for the period ended June 23, 2024. “We made tremendous progress on our digital transformation in the third quarter, and we are pleased to announce we have achieved the inflection point where more than 50% of our revenue is digital,\" said Kevin Mowbray, Lee's President and Chief Executive Officer. “The revenue inflection point is important as it stabilizes our operating performance, making us less impacted by the print business going forward. Nearly two-thirds of our total company gross margin was derived from digital sources, positioning us close to our goal of being sustainable from our digital products only. This positions us well to be vibrant and growing in the medium and long-term with the rapid growth of our digital revenue streams.” “Our investment thesis is grounded in this transformation as we replace print revenue and margin with digital revenue and margin that are growing at a rapid clip. Total Digital Revenue has grown 17% annually over the last three years, and we expect this strong growth to continue,” Mowbray added. “Our third quarter performance was highlighted by a marked improvement in revenue trends alongside effective management of operating expenses. As a result of our engaging hyper-local content, improved brand awareness, and sophisticated marketing campaigns, we now have 748,000 digital subscribers, a 23% increase over the prior year. Digital-only subscription revenue grew 34%(2) and totaled $79 million over the last twelve months, more than halfway towards our long-term target of $150 million. On the advertising side, Amplified Digital® Agency’s third quarter revenue grew 12%(2) over the prior year with annualized revenue more than $100 million,” Mowbray added. “As a result of the persistent acceleration of print revenue declines, we are updating our full year Adjusted EBITDA(4) outlook to the range ...