Salon Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB: SLNM) today announced results
for its fiscal 2015 third quarter ended December 31, 2014.
Highlights:
- Third quarter net revenue was $1.5
million
- Unique visitors to Salon.com grew 82%
in 2014, the second highest growth in its online media peer group,
according to comScore data
- Salon.com reached an all-time high in
traffic of 18.9 million unique users for the month of October 2014
according to Google Analytics
- Mobile users grew 104% compared to same
period last year
- Facebook traffic grew 127% compared to
the same period last year
Third quarter net revenue of $1.5 million was down 22% from the
$1.9 million reported for the same period last year. For the nine
months ended December 31, 2014, net revenue was $3.7 million, a
decline of 19% from the $4.6 million reported for the nine months
ended December 31, 2013. The drop in revenue was a result of the
competitive advertising landscape for smaller Internet media
companies, and low CPMs (cost per million impressions) for
advertising placement on mobile devices, which is the platform
increasingly used by Salon users.
Operating expenses for the third quarter rose 5% to $2.3 million
compared to $2.2 million for the same period last year. For the
nine months ended December 31, 2014, operating expenses were $6.6
million, compared to $6.1 million for the same period last year.
The increase in operating expenses resulted primarily from higher
stock-based compensation, increased rent due to a new and larger
office space in New York, and an increase in professional fees. The
Company’s loss from operations for the third quarter was $0.8
million, compared to a loss of $0.3 million for the same period
last year. The Company’s loss from operations for the nine months
ended December 31, 2014 was $2.9 million, compared to a loss of
$1.4 million for the same period last year.
Salon’s agenda-setting and conversation driven stories about
Islam, the state of the Democratic Party, Charlie Hebdo, Bill
Cosby, fast food strikes, and Stephen Colbert were widely followed
by readers and recognized by the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, The
New Yorker, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico and
many others. Interviews with Bill Maher, Elizabeth Warren and
others were also followed and cited by major publications.
Unique visitors to Salon.com averaged 18.0 million per month
during the third quarter according to Google Analytics. These
numbers mark the best quarter in Salon’s history and show an
increase of 56% compared to the same period last year, and an
increase of 9% compared to this year’s previous quarter.
During calendar year 2014, Salon’s traffic grew 82% to 12.23
million unique visitors at December 31, 2014, as measured by
ComScore (U.S. only, includes mobile), placing Salon second among
its online news peers in traffic growth. Salon is among only five
companies with more than 50% growth, with the average growth for
this competitive set at 37%. Our desktop traffic growth was also
the highest among our online news peers, growing 52% compared to an
average of 4% for our peers.
Mobile and social media continues to be a major driver of
Salon’s traffic growth. Our mobile readers accounted for 57% of
unique visitors in December 2014, which was a significant increase
compared to 48% in December 2013. During the third quarter, overall
traffic from the mobile platforms increased 104% compared to the
December 2013 quarter, mostly due to the top articles going viral
over the Facebook mobile platform.
Social media traffic grew 127% in the quarter ended December 31,
2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Facebook continues to be
the largest social media driver, with referrals increasing 216% in
the December 2014 quarter versus the same period in 2013. Twitter
also grew strongly in the December 2014 quarter, increasing 29%
compared to the quarter ended December 2013.
Salon has been developing a strategy to produce editorial video
content. In 2015, the company plans to roll out original video
editorial programming focused on news, politics and entertainment,
in order to add high quality diversified content to Salon.com, and
to attract premium video advertising that commands higher CPMs
compared to display advertising.
Salon provides brands with a dynamic platform for sharing an
array of video assets through its traditional display advertising
as well as its native advertising products. Video products are in
high demand with advertisers, and in the past nine months
approximately 50% of all Salon’s direct advertising included video
assets. Video advertisers on Salon have included companies such as
Siemens, AT&T, Amazon, Adobe, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Cole
Haan, Warner Brothers, MSNBC, HBO, Showtime, FX, IFC, AMC, and
National Geographic.
As part of its growing events program, Salon partnered with
Happy Ending to host a live, ticketed event featuring readings by
authors Lena Dunham and Andrew Solomon and a musical performance by
Lucius in December 2014. Salon will continue to host live events
focused on its editorial team and will collaborate with outside
partners like Happy Ending to provide more live events for Salon
readers.
Salon was awarded the Folio Award for best General Consumer
Website "design and uncompromising journalism," and recognized as a
Finalist in Editor & Publisher’s EPPY awards for the category
“Best News Site with one million unique monthly visitors and
over.”
“Salon continues to drive the national conversation," said
Cynthia Jeffers, the CEO of Salon Media Group. "Our provocative and
fearless coverage of the most timely current debates -- whether the
Charlie Hebdo attack, the future of the Democratic Party, or our
agenda-setting stories about the Bill Cosby scandal -- resulted in
significant user growth. We look to expand further our user base as
we explore the potential of video and other emerging storytelling
platforms. Although 2014 was a challenging year in terms of
monetizing our content, we are optimistic that more users and new
platforms will help to improve our revenues in 2015."
About Salon Media Group
Salon Media Group (OTCQB: SLNM) operates the pioneering,
award-winning news site, Salon.com. Salon.com covers breaking news,
politics, culture, technology and entertainment through
investigative reporting, fearless commentary and criticism, and
provocative personal essays. Salon.com has been a leader in online
media since the dawn of the digital age and has bureaus in San
Francisco, New York City and Washington D.C.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, that are made as of the date of this press release based
upon our current expectations. All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, including, but not limited to,
statements regarding our traffic, strategy, plans, objectives,
expectations, intentions, financial performance, financing,
economic conditions, editorial video content, on-line advertising,
market performance, and revenue sources constitute “forward-looking
statements.” The words “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,”
“anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential” or “continue” and
similar types of expressions identify such statements, although not
all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results
to differ materially from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause such differences
include, but are not limited to:
- Our cash flows may not meet
expectations
- Our reliance on related parties for
significant operating and investment capital
- Our decline in revenues ad increased
expenses
- Our principal stockholders exercise a
controlling influence over our business affairs and may make
business decisions with which non-principal stockholders disagree
and may affect the value of their investment
- Our dependence on advertising sales for
significant revenues
- The effect of online security
breaches
- Our ability to promote the Salon brand
to attract and retain users, advertisers and strategic
partners
- Our ability to hire, integrate and
retain qualified employees
- The impact of the potential loss of key
personnel, including editorial staff
- The success of our efforts to protect
our intellectual property or defend claims of infringement by third
parties
- Our technology development efforts may
not be successful in improving the functionality of our
network
- Our reliance on third parties to
provide necessary technologies
This press release should be read in conjunction with our
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31,
2014, filed with the SEC on February 13, 2015, and our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, filed
with the SEC on June 26, 2014, including the “Risk Factors” set
forth in such reports, and our other reports currently on file with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain more detailed
discussion of risks and uncertainties that may affect future
results. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements except as otherwise required by law.
SALON MEDIA GROUP, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except share and par value
amounts)
December 31, March 31,
2014 2014 (1) Assets (Unaudited)
Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 102 $ 119 Accounts
receivable, net of allowance of $60 1,181 1,475 Prepaid expenses
and other current assets 112 289 Total current assets
1,395 1,883 Property and equipment, net 62 54 Other assets,
principally deposits 302 96 Total assets $ 1,759 $
2,033
Liabilities and Stockholders' Deficit Current
liabilities: Short-term borrowings $ 1,000 $ 1,000 Related party
advances 5,126 2,791 Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
1,239 1,210 Total current liabilities 7,365 5,001
Deferred rent 73 2 Total liabilities
7,438 5,003 Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ deficit:
Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value,
5,000,000 shares authorized, 1,075 shares issued and outstanding as
of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2014 (liquidation value of
$2,478 as of December 31, 2014 and $2,426 as of March 31, 2014)
- -
Common stock, $0.001 par value,
150,000,000 shares authorized, 76,245,442 shares issued and
outstanding as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2014
76 76 Additional paid-in capital 115,781 115,605 Accumulated
deficit (121,536) (118,651) Total stockholders'
deficit (5,679) (2,970) Total liabilities and
stockholders' deficit $ 1,759 $ 2,033 (1) Derived from the
Company’s audited consolidated financial statements.
SALON MEDIA GROUP, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS
OF OPERATIONS (in thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited) Three
Months Ended Nine Months Ended December 31,
December 31, 2014 2013 2014 2013
Revenue, net $ 1,473 $ 1,877 $ 3,740 $ 4,637
Operating expenses: Production and content 1,022 887 2,937 2,553
Sales and marketing 477 473 1,342 1,377 Technology 298 377 963
1,135 General and administrative 469 430 1,354
1,012 Total operating expenses 2,266 2,167
6,596 6,077 Loss from operations (793) (290)
(2,856) (1,440) Interest expense (10) (9) (29)
(28) Net loss $ (803) $ (299) $ (2,885) $ (1,468)
Basic and diluted net loss per share $ (0.01) $ (0.00) $
(0.04) $ (0.02)
Weighted average shares used in computing
basic and diluted net loss per share
76,245 76,245 76,245 73,163
Salon Media Group, Inc.Investor Relations:Elizabeth Hambrecht,
415-275-3936Chief Financial Officer
Salon Media (CE) (USOTC:SLNM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
Salon Media (CE) (USOTC:SLNM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024