Parent group of PRO TV, Acasa and MTV channels reports plummeting revenues, profits in Romania

Central European Media enterprises (CME) ended 2012 with revenues and profits down significantly on 2011. In Romania for the last quarter of 2012, revenues were down some USD 5 million to some USD 42 million, while its operating income before depreciation and amortisation (OIBDA) plummeted from around USD 8.5 million in Q4 2011 to less than USD 800,000 in the final three months of 2012.

For the whole 2012 the company recorded USD 134 million in revenues for Romania, compared to nearly USD 160 million in 2011. “Our performance this year reflected the tough market conditions in 2012,” said CME President and CEO Adrian Sarbu. He highlighted that no debts were due until 2015 and despite the big drops, said that the company was “looking forward to 2013 with confidence.” The CEO indicated that there will be restructuring and cost cutting moves made to reduce the cost base and improve capital structure and liquidity. The company, which operates the PRO TV, Acasa, MTV and channels in Romania, ended last year with net revenues of USD 772.1 million across all its markets, compared to USD 864.8 million in 2011 – a 10.7 percent fall. At a group level, income were also far lower, with OIBDA at USD 125.4 million against USD 167 million, or a 24.9 percent drop. Net losses reached nearly USD 550 million in 2012, well up from the around USD 180 million net loss in 2011. For Romania, OIBDA in 2012 more than halved, from around USD 25 million in 2011 to some USD 10 million last year. For the three months ending on December 31, 2012, revenues were down 8.5 percent to USD 253.3 million while OIBDA incomes fell by over 25 percent from some USD 81 million to USD 60.7 million. CME is a media and entertainment company operating in six Central and Eastern European markets with a total population of approximately 50 million people. In Romania, CME runs PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, Acasa Gold, PRO Cinema, Sport.ro, MTV Romania and PRO TV Chisinau Moldova. The company also has broadcast operations in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Across the region CME operates the video-on-demand service Voyo. The company is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the Prague Stock Exchange. editor@romania-insider.com