WPRO’s Parent Company Cumulus Stock Collapses, Bankruptcy Looming?
Monday, March 27, 2017
Cumulus Media, the owners of WPRO AM/FM, HOT 106, LITE 105 and AM790, stock is collapsing -- and experts say the company is close to bankruptcy.
"Cumulus has no choice but to file for bankruptcy protection. It could come in a matter of weeks,” wrote Bill Cromwell in Media Life Magazine.
The financial meltdown has been coming for months. In October, Cumulus stockholders traded eight shares for one to bolster the company’s stock and save it from being delisted from NASDAQ. The stock was then repriced to $2.40 a share..
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSince October the stock has spiraled down. On Friday, Cumulus stock closed at $0.34 a share — a 85 percent loss in value since October.
The annual financials released recently unveil that the company lost $510 million in 2016. Other troubling trends were:
* net revenue fell
* adjusted EBITDA fell 20%
* total debt remained at $2.4 Billion
“That Cumulus would file for Chapter 11 should come as no surprise. It’s been hemorrhaging losses, and Berner, who took over as CEO last September, has talked openly about the possibility in the event she couldn’t restructure its debt," wrote Cromwell. "The real question is this: What will become of Cumulus’s assets, which include 454 stations in 90 markets."
How Desperate?
The New York Post reports, “Desperate Cumulus CEO Mary Berner wants her staffers to become radio-active."
Berner, with her company’s shares and revenue sagging, is asking all staff members in a recent company video to tap friends and family to generate leads for the firm’s ad sales unit, according to sources, who described the wacky video to The Post.
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