Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. ("CME") (NASDAQ/Prague
Stock Exchange: CETV) today announced it has terminated the
agreement, previously announced on July 10, 2017, to sell its
operations in Slovenia, and will instead retain full ownership of
the leading television network group in the country.
CME will present the results of the Slovenian business as
continuing operations when announcing its full year 2018 results.
On this basis, for the last twelve months ended September 30,
2018:
- OIBDA for the Slovenian operations was
US$ 20.8 million
- CME's operating income was US$ 162.3
million and OIBDA was US$ 208.4 million
- Run-rate annual debt service
obligations for CME were US$ 29.0 million
Michael Del Nin, Co-Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Since
we announced our intention to sell our Slovenian business 18 months
ago in order to accelerate deleveraging, we have repaid
approximately $370 million in loans, reducing our gross debt by
about 30%, and cut our average borrowing cost by more than half to
3.5%. At the same time, Slovenia has grown its revenues
significantly and reached a level of profitability that it hasn’t
seen in a decade. On a five country basis, our OIBDA growth rates
for both 2018 and 2019 should exceed what we have been expecting
from only four. Furthermore, this accelerated growth means that
even without the proceeds from the planned divestiture, our net
leverage ratio should approach 3x by the end of Q1, a delay of just
one quarter compared to our expectations if the sale had been
completed."
Christoph Mainusch, Co-Chief Executive Officer, added: "We have
always said this transaction was not a reflection of our outlook
for the business. Quite the contrary, we are strong believers in
the value of television assets and the future of the Slovenian
operations, which have been confirmed by its spectacular growth
over the last year. We look forward to continuing to work with the
team at POP TV in our longstanding tradition of providing objective
news and the best entertainment for Slovenia."
CME is a media and entertainment company operating leading
businesses in five Central and Eastern European markets with an
aggregate population of about 45 million people. CME's operations
broadcast 31 television channels in Bulgaria (bTV, bTV Cinema, bTV
Comedy, bTV Action, bTV Lady and Ring), the Czech Republic (Nova,
Nova 2, Nova Cinema, Nova Sport 1, Nova Sport 2, Nova
International, Nova Action and Nova Gold), Romania (PRO TV, PRO 2,
PRO X, PRO GOLD, PRO CINEMA, PRO TV International, MTV Romania and
PRO TV Chisinau), the Slovak Republic (TV Markíza, Markíza
International, Doma and Dajto) and Slovenia (POP TV, Kanal A, Brio,
Oto and Kino). CME is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and
the Prague Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CETV”.
Forward-Looking Statements and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. For all
forward-looking statements, we claim the protection of the safe
harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many
of which cannot be predicted with accuracy or are otherwise beyond
our control and some of which might not even be anticipated.
Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect
to future events and because our business is subject to such risks
and uncertainties, actual results, our strategic plan, our
financial position, results of operations and cash flows could
differ materially from those described in or contemplated by the
forward-looking statements.
Important factors that contribute to such risks include, but are
not limited to, those factors set forth under "Risk Factors” in
CME's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September
30, 2018 as well as the following: the effect of changes in global
and regional economic conditions and the extent, timing and
duration of the recovery in our markets; levels of television
advertising spending and the rate of development of the advertising
markets in the countries in which we operate; the extent to which
our debt service obligations and covenants may restrict our
business; our exposure to additional tax liabilities as well as
liabilities resulting from regulatory or legal proceedings
initiated against us; our ability to refinance our existing
indebtedness; our success in continuing our initiatives to
diversify and enhance our revenue streams; our ability to make
cost-effective investments in our television businesses, including
investments in programming; our ability to develop and acquire
necessary programming and attract audiences; and changes in the
political and regulatory environments where we operate and in the
application of relevant laws and regulations.
The foregoing review of important factors should not be
construed as exhaustive. For a more detailed description of these
uncertainties and other factors, please see the "Risk Factors" and
"Forward-looking Statements" sections in CME's Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future
developments or otherwise.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In this release we refer to OIBDA, a non-GAAP financial measure.
Non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similar
measures reported by other companies. Non-GAAP financial
measures should be evaluated in conjunction with, and are not a
substitute for, US GAAP financial measures.
We evaluate our consolidated results and the performance of our
segments based on net revenues and OIBDA. We believe OIBDA is
useful to investors because it provides a meaningful representation
of our performance, as it excludes certain items that do not impact
either our cash flows or the operating results of our
operations. OIBDA is also used as a component in determining
management bonuses.
OIBDA includes amortization and impairment of program rights and
is calculated as operating income / loss before depreciation,
amortization of intangible assets and impairments of assets and
certain unusual or infrequent items that are not considered by our
co-Chief Executive Officers when evaluating our performance. From
January 1, 2018, stock-based compensation and certain operating
costs incurred on behalf of our segments at the corporate level
have been allocated to our segments for purposes of evaluating
their performance.
The last twelve months period ended September 30, 2018 is
calculated as the nine months ended September 30, 2018 plus the
three months ended December 31, 2017.
(US $000's)
Last twelve months
ended September 30, 2018
(unaudited) Operating income $ 162,330
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 33,789 Amortization
of intangible assets 9,082 Other items (1) 3,152
Total OIBDA
$ 208,353
(1) Other items consists solely of expense related to the
accelerated vesting of RSUs with performance conditions in
accordance with the terms of the corresponding award agreement
following the completion of sale of CME's Croatian operations on
such date.
For additional information, please visit www.cme.net
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190118005137/en/
Central European Media EnterprisesMark KobalHead of Investor
Relations+420 242 465 576mark.kobal@cme.net
Central European Media E... (NASDAQ:CETV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Central European Media E... (NASDAQ:CETV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024