Clear Channel Outdoor Downgraded by Goldman on Debt Fears

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It just gets worse for Clear Channel Outdoor: Goldman Sachs has downgraded CCO stock to “sell” on fears that Clear Channel’s parent company, CC Media Holdings, may be unable top pay its debt.

The parent filed a note with the SEC April 17 giving a bare bones revenue report that was equally gloomy: revenue is down 23 percent in Q1 2009 to $1.2 billion, from $1.56 billion last year. As you can see, the parent didn’t give a full report on its financial condition, promising a more detailed account on May 11.

The Providence Business News reports that Clear Channel Outdoor’s parent lost $4 billion last year, and is in the process of cutting 1,850 employees, or 9 percent of its work force.

Underling-unit Clear Channel Outdoor, meanwhile, is beset by many of the same problems its parent is: Falling revenues, rising expenses, tons of debt and little cash.

See previous stories on Clear Channel Outdoor:
Clear Channel Outdoor Q4: Signs of the Apocalypse

Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.

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