Lee Enterprises Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year FY25 results

Q4 Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ growth of $2M YOY on a comparable basis⁽²⁾
Balance sheet derisking continues with pension plan termination
Total Digital Revenue⁽³⁾ was 53% of revenue in the quarter, representing $74M
Digital-Only subscription revenue increased 16% YOY⁽⁴⁾ in the quarter

DAVENPORT, Iowa, Nov. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: LEE), a digital-first subscription platform providing high quality, trusted, local news, information and a major platform for advertising in 72 markets, today reported preliminary fourth quarter fiscal 2025 financial results⁽⁵⁾ for the period ended September 28, 2025.

"We are pleased with our fourth quarter results as we continued to outperform the industry," said Kevin Mowbray, Lee’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "Digital subscription revenue increased 16% on a same-store basis⁽⁴⁾, marking five consecutive years of industry-leading performance. This consistent strength reflects the effectiveness of our Three Pillar Digital Growth Strategy and the exceptional execution of our team."

"Lee also delivered its second consecutive quarter of Adjusted EBITDA growth⁽²⁾, underscoring the sustainability of our transformation. Solid top-line performance combined with disciplined cost actions drove our profitability gains. Two consecutive quarters of Adjusted EBITDA growth, coupled with our continued leadership in digital subscriptions and Amplified Digital^® Agency's strong track record, demonstrate the strong momentum we're building across the company. We expect the momentum to continue, delivering strong Adjusted EBITDA growth in fiscal 2026."

"This progress strengthens our position as a growing, sustainable, and digitally focused organization—one that is well positioned to capture long-term value and lead the next chapter of our digital transformation," Mowbray added.

For the fourth quarter ended September 28, 2025:

• Total operating revenue was $139 million.
  
• Total Digital Revenue was $74 million and represented 53% of our total operating revenue.
• Revenue from digital-only subscribers totaled $25 million, up 6% over the prior year, or up 16% on a same-store basis⁽⁴⁾. Digital-only subscription revenue increased 32% annually over the past three years. Digital-only subscribers totaled 633,000 at the end of the quarter.
• Digital advertising and marketing services revenue represented 74% of our total advertising revenue and totaled $44 million. Amplified Digital^® Agency revenue totaled more than $100 million in the fiscal year, growing 5% for the year⁽⁴⁾.
• Digital services revenue, which is predominantly from BLOX Digital, totaled $5 million.
• Total Print Revenue was $65 million.
• Operating expenses totaled $142 million and Cash Costs⁽¹⁾ totaled $126 million, a 13% and 12% decrease compared to the prior year, respectively.
• Net loss totaled $6 million and Adjusted EBITDA totaled $15 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, or increased by $2 million on a comparable basis⁽²⁾.
  
  

For the fiscal year ended September 28, 2025:

• Total operating revenue was $562 million.
• Total Digital Revenue was $298 million, flat to the prior year, or an increase of 2% on a same-store basis⁽⁴⁾.
• Total Print Revenue was $264 million, down 15% to the prior year, or down 13% to the prior year on a same-store basis⁽⁴⁾, representing an improvement of 9 percentage points over the prior year's decline of 21%.
• Operating expenses totaled $571 million and Cash Costs totaled $524 million, a 7% and 5% decrease compared to the prior year, respectively. Operating expenses in FY25 included $4 million of cyber restoration expenses, which are included in the line Restructuring costs and other.
• Net loss totaled $36 million.
  
  

2026 Fiscal Year Outlook:

Debt and Free Cash Flow:

The Company has $455 million of debt outstanding under our Credit Agreement⁽⁶⁾ with BH Finance. The financing has favorable terms including a 25-year maturity, a fixed annual interest rate of 9.0%, no fixed principal payments, and no financial performance covenants.

As of and for the period ended September 28, 2025:

• The principal amount of debt totaled $455 million.
• As a result of the cyber event and in an effort to provide short-term liquidity, the Company's sole lender, BH Finance, waived payment of the Company's March 2025, April 2025 and May 2025 interest and basic rent payments. Waived interest and basic rent payments were added to the principal amount due under the Credit Agreement.
• Since May 2025, the Company has satisfied all principal and interest payments through organic free cash flow generation.
• Cash on the balance sheet totaled $10 million. Debt, net of cash on the balance sheet, totaled $445 million.
• Capital expenditures totaled $1 million for the quarter and $4 million for the year. We expect up to $10 million of capital expenditures in FY26.
• For fiscal year 2025, cash paid for income taxes totaled $3 million. We expect cash paid for income taxes to total between $1 million and $6 million in FY26.
• We made no pension contributions in the fiscal year.
• The Company is executing a strategic termination of our fully funded benefit pension plan, eliminating the long-term volatility tied to interest rate movement, mortality assumptions and asset performance, while preserving participant benefits and improving balance sheet flexibility.
  
  

Conference Call Information:

As previously announced, we will hold an earnings conference call and audio webcast today at 9 a.m. Central Time. The live webcast will be accessible at www.lee.net and will be available for replay 24 hours later. Analysts have been invited to ask questions on the call. Questions from other participants may be submitted by participating in the webcast. To participate in the live conference call via telephone, please register here. Upon registering, a dial-in number and unique PIN will be provided to join the conference call.

About Lee:

Lee Enterprises is a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news and information, with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 72 markets in 25 states. Lee's markets include St. Louis, MO; Buffalo, NY; Omaha, NE; Richmond, VA; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit www.lee.net.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS — The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. This release contains information that may be deemed forward-looking that is based largely on our current expectations, and is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Among such risks, trends and other uncertainties, which in some instances are beyond our control, are:

• We may be required to indemnify the previous owners of BH Media or The Buffalo News for unknown legal and other matters that may arise;
• Our ability to manage declining print revenue and circulation subscribers;
• The impact and duration of adverse conditions in certain aspects of the economy affecting our business;
• Changes in advertising and subscription demand;
• Changes in technology that impact our ability to deliver digital advertising;
• Potential changes in newsprint, other commodities and energy costs;
• Interest rates;
• Labor costs;
• Significant cyber security breaches or failure of our information technology systems;
• Our ability to achieve planned expense reductions and realize the expected benefit of our acquisitions;
• Our ability to maintain employee and customer relationships;
• Our ability to manage increased capital costs;
• Our ability to maintain our listing status on NASDAQ;
• Competition; and
• Other risks detailed from time to time in our publicly filed documents.
  
  

Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “may”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “projects”, “considers” and similar expressions) generally should be considered forward-looking statements.  Statements regarding our plans, strategies, prospects and expectations regarding our business and industry and our responses thereto may have on our future operations, are forward-looking statements. They reflect our expectations, are not guarantees of performance and speak only as of the date the statement is made.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this report.  We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contact:
IR@lee.net
(563) 383-2100

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(UNAUDITED)

DIGITAL / PRINT REVENUE COMPOSITION
(UNAUDITED)

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(UNAUDITED)

The tables below reconcile the non-GAAP financial performance measure of Adjusted EBITDA to Net loss, its most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure:

The table below reconciles the non-GAAP financial performance measure of Cash Costs to Operating expenses, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure:

The table below reconciles the non-GAAP financial performance measure of Same-store Revenues to Operating Revenues, its most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure:

NOTES

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