S&P MAINTAINS BUY OPINION ON SHARES OF SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
(Standard & Poor's)
Q3 revenues for SBGI fell 10.1% to $160M, vs. our $162M estimate, and EPS of $0.19, vs. $0.14, is above our $0.08 estimate. SBGI saw notable operating cost savings, as well as lower interest payments. We take a generally favorable view of the recently completed balance sheet restructuring given improved flexibility. We are also encouraged by SBGI comments that the worst of the impact of the recession may be over, and that advertisers are beginning to buy with longer lead times. We raise our '09 EPS estimate to $0.52 from $0.40 but keep our target price of $6.00.