ACME Communications Affirms First Quarter 2003 Outlook; Company to Present at The A.G. Edwards Media and Entertainment Conference on April 7, 2003.Entertainment Editors/Business Editors SANTA ANA Santa Ana, city, El Salvador Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2003 ACME Communications ACME Communications (NASDAQ: ACME) is a television broadcasting company that owns seven television stations. Six stations are CW Television Network affiliates. The seventh, part of a duopoly in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a MyNetworkTV affiliate. , Inc. (Nasdaq: ACME) announced today its participation in the A.G. Edwards 2003 Media and Entertainment Conference, being held April 7-9, 2003 at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , Nevada. Doug Gealy, President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of ACME, will present at the conference on Monday, April 7th from 10:20 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Pacific Time. In conjunction with the presentation, ACME is affirming its first quarter 2003 guidance, originally issued in its fourth quarter 2003 earnings press release dated February 14, 2003. The guidance calls for first quarter 2003 net revenue to finish 30-35% (28-32% on a same station basis) above first quarter 2002 net revenue. Additionally, first quarter station operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. are expected to increase 22-24% (18-20% on a same station basis) over first quarter 2002 levels, resulting in a narrowing of the $1.0 million negative broadcast cash flow generated in the first quarter of 2002. Commenting on the first quarter, Doug Gealy stated, "While our stations witnessed some weakening in advertising demand concurrent with the war in Iraq, we were still able to post significant revenue growth for the first quarter. This growth is all the more notable given that we posted a 13% same station gain in last year's first quarter, outperforming the industry. These strong results reflect ACME's limited exposure to news programming, and the continued ratings and market share momentum of our developing television station portfolio. Notwithstanding the impact of the war, we are optimistic that we can continue to post revenue growth well above the industry average in the current quarter. We will provide an outlook for the second quarter when we report our first quarter results in early May." About ACME Communications, Inc. ACME Communications, Inc. owns and operates nine television stations serving markets covering 3.7% of the nation's television households, making the Company the fourth largest affiliate group of The WB Television Network. The Company's stations are: KUWB-TV, Salt Lake City, UT; KWBQ-TV and KASY-TV, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM; WBDT-TV, Dayton, OH; WBXX-TV, Knoxville, TN; WIWB-TV, Green Bay-Appleton, WI; WTVK-TV, Ft. Myers-Naples, FL; WBUI-TV, Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, IL and WBUW-TV, Madison, WI. All of the Company's stations, except KASY-TV, a UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation affiliate, are WB Network affiliates. ACME's shares are traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. under the symbol: ACME. Cautionary Statements for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and : The preceding comments on the Company's current expectations of operating results for the first quarter of 2003 are "forward looking" for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results of operations are subject to a number of risks and may differ materially from the current expectations discussed in this press release. See the Company's annual report on Form 10K for a further discussion of its operations. |
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