CME Reports Q4, Full-Year Results

HAMILTON: For the fourth quarter, Central European Media Enterprises (CME) reported net revenues of $252.1 million, a 14-percent decline on the year-ago period, with a net loss that was down from $328.1 million to $55.3 million.

In the year, meanwhile, revenues fell 30 percent to $714 million, with a net loss of $97.2 million, compared to the loss of $269.5 million for 2008.

Announcing the results, Adrian Sarbu, the president and CEO, noted that CME had been heavily hit by the advertising downturn. “An unprecedented economic crisis in our region reset TV ad spending 30 percent below 2008. US$800 million of TV ad spend vanished in one year, dramatically reducing our revenues. In this difficult environment we strengthened our operations by maintaining audience share leadership, increasing market share and redefining ourselves as a vertically integrated media company. We are making the necessary corrections to our portfolio to achieve positive EBITDA in all our operations in 2010. This year we will focus our energy on increasing profitability across our three new divisions—broadcasting, Internet and content.”

Broadcasting revenues in the quarter fell 15 percent to $245.7 million, while Internet revenues gained 37 percent to $3.6 million. Content revenues were $5.4 million.