CME, owner of ProTV, makes USD 80 mln revenues in H1 in Romania

Central European Media Enterprises, which owns several TV stations in Romania, posted USD 80 million in net revenues in the first half of the year, down USD 4 million on the same period of last year. The first quarter of the year meant net revenues of USD 43 million for the company in Romania, down USD 5 million on the first quarter of 2009. CME's Romanian broadcast division brought the second largest bulk of revenues for the parent company, after the Czech Republic division, with over USD 125 million in net revenues. The Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) was of USD 15.2 million in the first half of the year in Romania, almost half the amount in H1 2009. The group's Media Pro Entertainment division, bought by CME in 2009 from founder Adrian Sarbu- who is now the CEO of CME – posted net revenues of USD 66.3 million, up USD 20 million compared to a year ago. The division posted an loss of USD 1.8 million, while in the first half of last year its OIBDA was of USD 2.1 million. The group's total net revenues for the first half of the year totaled USD 345.4 million. “Our results in Q2 2010 are stronger than in Q2 2009. Revenues on a constant currency basis increased by 15% and OIBDA by 6%, despite a 4% decline in TV ad spending. The decisive actions we took in last four quarters to reposition our business, including the sale of our Ukrainian operations, acquisition of bTV in Bulgaria and integration of Media Pro Entertainment, have paid off. The first half of the year was difficult with only Czech Republic and Slovenia starting to recover,” said Adrian Sarbu, presdient and CEO of CME (in picture). CME owns several TV stations in Romania: PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, PRO Cinema, Sport.ro and MTV Romania, as well as Media Pro Entertainment.