Asset sales lift profit at Clear Channel

Clear Channel Communications Inc., a major radio and outdoor advertising company, reported higher first-quarter earnings Friday on asset sales but operating results were flat, reflecting weak demand for radio advertising.

The San Antonio-based company is battling its lenders in court as it tries to go private. It says it’s not sure when the $19.5-billion deal will close, if at all.

Clear Channel said it earned $799.7 million, or $1.61 a share, in the first three months, compared with $102.2 million, or 21 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4% to $1.56 billion, but excluding the effects of foreign exchange swings revenue would have risen 1%.

The company just completed the sale of its TV station group in March for $1 billion, and it is in the process of shedding 275 radio stations as part of the pending transaction to take Clear Channel private.

Excluding gains from those sales as well as a $67.2-million profit from selling an interest in a South Africa-based outdoor advertising company, earnings from continuing operations were $94.2 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with $95.1 million, also 19 cents, a year earlier.

The results were slightly less than the 21-cent-a-share estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Clear Channel struck an agreement with the buyout firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital in late 2006 to be taken private, but the deal has been dogged by challenges, first with shareholder objections and then with difficulties lining up financing.

In late March the company and the buyout firms sued the six banks financing the deal, saying they were reneging on their commitment to help fund the transaction.

Concerns about the deal have kept Clear Channel’s stock well below the buyout price of $39.20 a share. Shares rose 16 cents to $30 on Friday.