Lamar Advertising's first-quarter loss narrowed compared with results a year ago that were weighed down by a hefty loss on debt extinguishment. The latest loss was still larger than analysts expected, however.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lamar Advertising's first-quarter loss narrowed compared with results a year ago that were weighed down by a hefty loss on debt extinguishment. The latest loss was still larger than analysts expected, however.
Lamar runs more than 150 outdoor advertising companies in 44 states, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. The company also has more than 60 transit advertising franchises in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and logo businesses in 22 states.
Lamar lost $6.2 million, or 7 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $22.9 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier that included a $30 million loss on debt extinguishment.
Analysts expected a smaller loss of 3 cents per share for the latest quarter, according to a FactSet poll.
Revenue rose 7 percent to $283.5 million from $266.2 million a year ago and just shy of Wall Street's $283.8 million estimate.
Lamar Advertising Co. anticipates second-quarter revenue of about $322 million to $325 million. Analysts expect $323.4 million in revenue.
Shares of Lamar fell 67 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $47.93 in afternoon trading Wednesday after rising as high as $49.61 earlier in the session. That was its highest level since February 2006, according to FactSet.