LIN TV to further increase revolver availability, repay debt in 2010

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., July 22 - LIN TV Corp. expects availability under its revolving credit facility to continue to grow throughout 2010 as the company uses free cash flow to pay down debt, Richard Schmaeling, its chief financial officer, said Thursday during LIN TV's second-quarter earnings conference call.

The company's outstanding revolving credit facility balance was $36.1 million at June 30, with $40 million available for borrowing under the facility.

During the second quarter, the company used proceeds from the sale of $200 million of senior notes to repay $148.9 million outstanding under the revolving credit facility and $45.9 million outstanding under its term loan.

LIN TV's total outstanding debt balance was reduced by $18.1 million during the second quarter to $664.9 million at June 30, Schmaeling said.

Additionally, the CFO reported that LIN TV's free cash flow after debt service increased during the second quarter by $4.7 million to $12.5 million. Schmaeling said the improvement was driven by a recovery in EBTIDA and a reduction in quarterly term loan amortization.

LIN TV's second-quarter adjusted EBITDA increased to $30.6 million, compared with $20.2 million in the same period of 2009.

The company's net revenues also improved during the period, increasing to $99.5 million, compared with net revenues of $82.5 million for the second quarter of 2009, as it continued to experience a recovery in core TV advertising revenue, Vincent Sadusky, LIN TV's chief executive officer, said during the call.

"We had terrific revenue and operating income growth in the second quarter of 2010, delivering results that were consistent with our guidance," Sadusky said.

LIN TV had unrestricted cash balances of $8.5 million at June 30, as compared with $11.1 million at Dec. 31.

The company's consolidated leverage, as defined under its credit agreement, was 5.9 times at June 30, compared with 7.6 times at Dec. 31.

LIN TV is a Providence, R.I.-based local television and multimedia company.

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