CME Reports Drop in Q3 Revenue

HAMILTON: Central European Media Enterprises (CME) saw its net revenues fall to $140.1 million in the third quarter, compared to the $165.5 million reported for Q3 2011. 

OIBDA for Q3 2012 was $3.5 million, compared to the year-ago period’s $8.9 million. CME posted an operating loss for the quarter of $18.4 million. Net loss for the period did improve from $82.2 million to $32.6 million. 

For the nine months ended September 30, net revenues were still down from the year-ago figures, from $587.9 million to $518.7 million. OIBDA for the nine-month period was $64.7 million, compared to the $85.8 million for the same months in 2011. 

Adrian Sarbu, CME’s president and CEO, commented: “Our third-quarter results and the prospects for the full year 2012 indicate that our markets are not recovering. In the second half of 2012 advertising spending has not matched our expectations. We were successful in addressing our capital structure and debt maturities but we were unable to achieve our sales and free cash flow targets. Our OIBDA guidance for 2012 is between $130 million to 140 million. Facing new challenges, we focus on maintaining our leading positions while aggressively managing our costs and improving free cash flow generation and liquidity.”