“Q1 came in as we expected and we see nothing in the marketplace to date that causes us to change our guidance,” was how Clear Channel Outdoor CEO Scott Wells described first quarter 2025 performance. Here are the results of the the CCO 1Q 25 earnings release, CCO 1Q 25 earnings presentation and conference call, analyzed and sponsored by SignValue.
- Revenues increased 2.2% in one Q 2025. Billboard revenues increased 1.8% Airport revenues increased 4%. The company’s projects revenue growth of 4-8% for the entire year 2025.
- Adjusted EBITDA declined 13% to $79 million in 1Q 2025 due to increased expenses associated with the MTA Billboard contract and increased site lease expense at airports. Here’s a snapshot of the company’s US billboard business.
- Capital expenditures totaled $13 million for the quarter.
- Clear Channel Outdoor had total debt of $5.2 billion at March 31, 2025 down from $5.7 billion at December 31, 2024. The debt has an weighted average cost of 7.3%.
CEO Scott Wells says international sales proceeds paid down a term loan and high cost bonds.
In Q1 and into April we delivered we signed and closed the sale of Mexico Chile and Peru we signed the sale of our Europe N segment and closed it faster than we’d even anticipated… our sales to date have amounted to approximately $745,000,000 in purchase consideration. We prepaid $375 million CIV term loans in full. We repurchased approximately $120 million in face value of bonds resulting in a guaranteed weighted average yield of approximately 14%. We launched the sale process for our business in Spain which continues to perform.
Scott Wells on AI and out of home
AI helped our inside sales team deliver double digit percent improvement in productivity we are now actively deploying large language models on activities ranging from customer targeting to creative development we believe that as these programs are implemented they should provide tailwinds to our margins and our leading productivity and out of home also thinking about AI we believe it is going to have a tendency to make many types of advertising more invasive for consumers potentially leading to backlash that likely means it will also be used to make ad blockers more powerful we believe our presence in the physical world with physical context coupled with strong insights on aggregate audience delivery should help our medium capture greater share of ad budgets.
Scott Wells on strong verticals
We think media and entertainment is going to be solid we are seeing auto insurance coming back to our medium and that is a very welcome development we continue to develop our pharma profile
SignValue’s take: Revenues are up, but cash flow is down due in part to expense associated with the MTA billboard contract. We are skeptical that the rich terms associated with the MTA contract will materially increase Clear Channel Outdoor’s market value. The market liked the results. Clear Channel Outdoor was up 5.7% on a day when Outfront grew 1.8% the S&P 500 grew 0.6% and Lamar grew 0.2%. If you have questions, contact one of SignValue’s experienced analysts for a free and confidential consultation at info@signvalue.com or call 480-657-8400.
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