ATLANTA, Jan. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gray
Television, Inc. ("Gray," "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE: GTN and
GTN.A) announced today that it is proposing, subject to market
and other conditions, to refinance and extend the maturity date of
its revolving credit facility and term loan under its existing
senior credit facility (the "Senior Credit Facility"). Gray
is also providing updates to certain of its previously announced
guidance for the fourth quarter of 2016, based on preliminary
information available to date.
Comments on Proposed Senior Credit Facility
Refinancing:
Gray expects to refinance or extend its existing indebtedness
through some or all of the following:
- Extension of its revolving credit facility to February 2022 from the current July 2020 maturity and an increase in aggregate
commitments to $100 million from the
current $60 million; and
- Extension of the existing $556.4
million term loan maturity to February 2024 from the current June 2021 maturity.
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the administrative agent under our
Senior Credit Facility.
We cannot provide any assurance about the timing, terms or
interest rate associated with the planned refinancing, or that the
refinancing transactions can be completed at all.
Comments on Previously Announced Acquisitions:
On January 17, 2017, we announced
that we had completed the $270
million acquisition of two television stations that had been
owned and operated by Media General, Inc. as part of that company's
acquisition by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.: WBAY (ABC),
in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and KWQC
(NBC) in Davenport, Iowa. On January 13th, Gray acquired KTVF (NBC), KXD
(CBS), and KFXF (FOX) in the Fairbanks,
Alaska, television market from Tanana Valley Television Co.
and Chena Broadcasting Co. for $8
million. Both of these acquisitions were funded with
cash on hand.
Comments on Updated Fourth Quarter 2016 Guidance:
Gray initially issued guidance for fourth quarter 2016 on
November 8, 2016. While Gray
remains in the process of finalizing its financial results for the
fourth quarter of 2016, the Company is presenting the following
updates to estimated results of operations. This updated guidance
represents the most current information available to Gray, and such
estimates have not been subject to our normal financial closing and
financial statement preparation processes and are subject to change
and finalization. As a result, our actual results could be
different and those differences could be material. Investors should
exercise caution in relying on the information contained herein and
should not draw any inferences from this information regarding
financial or operating data that is not presented below.
|
|
Updated
Guidance
|
|
|
Three Months
Ending December 31,
|
|
|
Low
End
|
|
% Change
From
|
|
High
End
|
|
% Change
From
|
|
|
|
|
Guidance
for
|
|
As-Reported
|
|
Guidance
for
|
|
As-Reported
|
|
As-Reported
|
|
|
the
Fourth
|
|
Fourth
|
|
the
Fourth
|
|
Fourth
|
|
Fourth
|
|
|
Quarter
of
|
|
Quarter
of
|
|
Quarter
of
|
|
Quarter
of
|
|
Quarter
of
|
Selected operating
data:
|
|
2016
|
|
2015
|
|
2016
|
|
2015
|
|
2015
|
|
|
(dollars in
thousands)
|
OPERATING
REVENUE:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue (less agency
commissions)
|
|
$
237,000
|
|
40 %
|
|
$
238,000
|
|
40 %
|
|
$
169,487
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OPERATING
EXPENSES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(before depreciation,
amortization and
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
loss on disposals of
assets):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Broadcast
|
|
$
128,000
|
|
26 %
|
|
$
129,000
|
|
27 %
|
|
$
101,969
|
Corporate and
administrative
|
|
$
8,500
|
|
(23)%
|
|
$
9,000
|
|
(18)%
|
|
$
11,030
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER SELECTED
DATA:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Political advertising
revenue
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(less agency
commissions)
|
|
$
48,250
|
|
424 %
|
|
$
48,750
|
|
429 %
|
|
$
9,213
|
The revised revenue, broadcast operating expense and political
advertising revenue ranges each slightly exceed the previous
high-side revenue estimate of $237.0
million, broadcast operating expense estimate of
$127.5 million and political
advertising revenue estimate of $48.0
million, respectively. The corporate and
administrative operating expense high-side range is unchanged
at $9.0 million.
As of December 31, 2016, we expect
to report approximately:
- $325.2 million of cash on
hand
- $556.4 million principal amount
of secured debt; and
- $1,781.4 million principal amount
of total debt (excluding unamortized deferred financing costs and
premium).
We currently anticipate that our secured and total leverage
ratios, as defined under our Senior Credit Facility, measured on a
trailing eight quarter basis, netting all cash on hand and giving
pro forma effect for all acquisitions completed through the date of
this release will be in the following ranges as of December 31, 2016:
|
Low
|
High
|
Secured leverage
ratio
|
1.6x
|
1.8x
|
Total leverage
ratio
|
5.5x
|
5.7x
|
About Gray:
Gray now owns and/or operates 100 television stations across 54
television markets that collectively broadcast over 200 program
streams including 101 channels affiliated with the CBS Network, the
NBC Network, the ABC Network and the FOX Network. Our
portfolio includes the number-one and/or number-two ranked
television station operations in essentially all of our markets,
which collectively cover approximately 10.1 percent of total
United States television
households.
Cautionary Statements for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor"
Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
This press release contains statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the federal securities
laws. These "forward-looking statements" are not statements of
historical facts, and may include, among other things, statements
regarding our current expectations and beliefs of the proposed
refinancing of our Senior Credit Facility, operating results for
the fourth quarter of 2016 or other periods, the impact of recently
completed transactions, future expenses and other future events.
Actual results are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
and may differ materially from the current expectations and beliefs
discussed in this press release. All information set forth in this
release is as of January 20, 2017. We
do not intend, and undertake no duty, to update this information to
reflect future events or circumstances. Information about certain
potential factors that could affect our business and financial
results and cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements are included
under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and may be contained in reports
subsequently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gray-announces-proposed-refinancing-of-senior-credit-facility-updates-guidance-for-4th-quarter-2016-300394022.html
SOURCE Gray Television, Inc.