12-Percent Revenue Gain at MTG

STOCKHOLM, February 14:
Modern Times Group’s (MTG) fourth-quarter revenues gained 12 percent to SEK 3.3
billion ($512.4 million), delivering a net income of SEK 458 million ($71.8
million), which was 45-percent higher than the year-ago period.

In the quarter, Viasat
Broadcasting’s revenues increased by 17 percent to SEK 2.6 billion following a
14-percent growth in free-to-air Scandinavia sales. Viasat’s operating income
was up 21 percent to SEK 611 million.

For the full year, MTG’s
revenues increased 12 percent to SEK 11.35 billion, with a net income of SEK
1.4 billion. At Viasat, revenues gained 13 percent to SEK 8.8 billion and
operating income grew 6 percent to SEK 2 billion.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, MTG’s president and CEO, commented: “The
fourth-quarter and full-year results set new group records—both in terms
of revenues and profitability. We broke through the SEK 2 billion group
operating profit level for the first time, following a 12-percent rise in sales.
Taken together with an operating margin of 23 percent for our Viasat
Broadcasting business, these results demonstrate that we are on track with our
strategic goals. The core Scandinavian markets have performed well, with our
investments in existing and new channels paying off in increased audience and
market shares, whilst the development of our Eastern European assets has
accelerated during the year to deliver 26 percent sales growth and contribute
42 percent of group operating profits. We have therefore further extended our
penetration of the highest-growth media markets in Europe, and are a more
international broadcasting group than ever.

“Our strategy remains
clear—making our content and channels as broadly available as possible,
and continuing to expand our footprint and reach,” he continued. “At the same
time, we have continued the discipline of disposing of non-core or
underperforming businesses and strictly managing our capital allocations, which
yielded a record 34-percent return on average capital employed for the full
year.”

—By Mansha Daswani