AOL reports revenue growth for the first time in 8 years in Q4 2012

February 12, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

aol-logo-3

AOL has reported earnings for Q4 2012, showing revenue growth for the first time in 8 years. Revenues came in at $599.5 million on earnings of 41 cents per share.

Summary below

Full report here

  • AOL Returns to Full Year Adjusted OIBDA* Growth in 2012
  • AOL Operating Income Grows 24%
  • AOL’s 13% Global Advertising Revenue Growth Drives Total Company Revenue Growth
  • AOL’s Search Revenue Grows 17% Driven by Continued Growth on AOL.com
  • AOL’s Subscription Revenue Declines 10%, Equaling Lowest Percentage Decline in 6 Years
  • AOL Properties Unique Visitors in Q4 Grew 6% Year-over-Year
  • Diluted EPS of $0.41 Compares to $0.23 in Q4 2011
  • AOL Paid a $5.15 per Share Special Dividend Completing the Return of $1.1 Billion to Shareholders
  • AOL Reduced Common Shares Outstanding by 19% Year-over-Year as of December 31, 2012
  • AOL’s Board Authorizes the Repurchase of up to $100 Million of Common Stock

“AOL returned to growth and generated significant value for shareholders in 2012,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO. “AOL has strong momentum entering 2013 and is positioned to continue on our growth path by executing our strategy to build the next generation media and technology company.”

*OIBDA – Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization

Click on the table to enlarge it

aol results2 2012

 

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Linkedin reports revenues up 81%

February 12, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

linkedin1LinkedIn has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012.

 

Read the full report here

Summary below

  • Revenue for the fourth quarter was $303.6 million, an increase of 81% compared to $167.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
  • Net income for the fourth quarter was $11.5 million, compared to net income of $6.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $40.2 million, compared to $13.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP measures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets.
  • Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $78.6 million, or 26% of revenue, compared to $34.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, or 21% of revenue.
  • GAAP diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.10; Non-GAAP diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.35.
  • For the full year 2012, revenue increased 86% to $972.3 million from $522.2 million. GAAP diluted EPS increased to $0.19 from $0.11 and Non-GAAP diluted EPS increased to $0.89 from $0.35. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $223.0 million from $98.7 million.

“2012 was a transformative year for LinkedIn,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “We exited 2011 having successfully revamped our underlying development infrastructure. Based on that investment, we said that 2012 would be a year of accelerated product innovation, and it was. The products we delivered throughout the year drove member engagement and financial results to record levels in the fourth quarter.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Details and Operating Summary

  • Talent Solutions: Revenue from Talent Solutions products totaled $161.0 million, an increase of 90% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Talent Solutions revenue represented 53% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 51% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
  • Marketing Solutions: Revenue from Marketing Solutions products totaled $83.2 million, an increase of 68% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Marketing Solutions revenue represented 27% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 30% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
  • Premium Subscriptions: Revenue from Premium Subscriptions products totaled $59.4 million, an increase of 79% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Premium Subscriptions represented 20% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 2011.

Revenue from the U.S. totaled $189.0 million, and represented 62% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012. Revenue from international markets totaled $114.6 million, and represented 38% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Revenue from the field sales channel totaled $178.4 million, and represented 59% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012. Revenue from the online, direct sales channel totaled $125.3 million, and represented 41% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012.

GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $11.5 million, compared to net income of $6.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $40.2 million, compared to $13.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $78.6 million, or 26% of revenue, compared to $34.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, or 21% of revenue.

Linkedin dominates professional networking on the Internet, and now has more than 200 million members

USA, Mountain View, CA

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I-5 Publishing acquires special interest media brands from BowTie Inc

February 12, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

i-5Publishing-52x60I-5 Publishing LLC, a newly-formed joint venture of publishing industry executives David Fry and Mark Harris, has acquired the books, magazines and websites of BowTie Inc., the publisher of special-interest brands such as Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy.

The acquisition, effective February 1, 2013, includes consumer magazines like Horse Illustrated and Urban Farm, trade magazines like Pet Product News International, websites including AnimalNetwork.com and DogChannel.com, and books including Dog Heroes of September 11th and The Original Dog Bible.

“We are thrilled to bring these storied brands under our umbrella,” said Harris, who has been appointed interim CEO of I-5 Publishing. “Combining the talented, passionate teams that have built such a robust content engine with the technology and expertise of our existing joint ventures creates the perfect platform on which to create an infinite variety of special-interest content for delivery in all formats.”

I-5 Publishing is the latest in a series of partnerships between Fry and Harris and their respective companies. Harris is the co-founder and co-owner of National Publisher Services. Fry is the chairman of NPI Ventures, LLC, which owns 50-percent of NPS, and the Chief Technology Officer of Fry Communications.

Harris and Ambrose will be joined on the executive team by former BowTie executives Nicole Fabian, Chief Financial Officer, June Kikuchi, Chief Content Officer and Dolores Whitlo, VP of Consumer Marketing.

USA, Irvine, CA

 

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A Fusion Deal: Law Business Research sold to Bowmark Capital

February 11, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

lbrFusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce the sale of specialist legal publisher Law Business Research to Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm. Bowmark Capital invested alongside the company’s founders, Richard Davey, Callum Campbell and Sebastian O’Meara. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Fusion team was led by Paul Slight.

Established in 1996, Law Business Research (“LBR”) publishes research, data and analysis on international business law and legal markets.  The company produces leading publications in fields such as international anti-trust law, arbitration law and Latin American law, and prides itself on creating essential and unique information for its subscribers in over 100 jurisdictions.

LBR today employs over 100 people in the UK, US and Brazil.  Its portfolio of products spans news publications, know-how guides, legal rankings and events, and includes titles such as “Global Competition Review”, “Global Arbitration Review”, “Getting The Deal Through” and “Latin Lawyer”.  The company serves all the world’s leading law firms and counts a large number of major corporations and regulators among its clients.

The international legal market has grown significantly in recent years, driven by globalisation and the growth in cross-border trade, and this has fuelled the demand for increasingly sophisticated and timely information from the legal profession.  With the backing of private equity, LBR is now seeking to further capitalise on this growth, by expanding both its sector and geographic coverage.

Richard Davey, LBR’s managing director, commented:  “We have ambitious plans to continue developing our business, and to further extend the depth and breadth of our services – while continuing to provide the highest quality content to our subscribers worldwide.  In Bowmark, we have found a supportive and experienced financial partner to help us achieve these goals.”

Bowmark partner, Julian Masters, said:  “LBR is a unique business in a growing market, with an outstanding reputation based on the quality of its content.  We are delighted to be backing Richard Davey and his team in the next stage of the company’s growth.”

UK, London

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A Fusion Deal: Wilmington Group acquires NHiS

February 11, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

nhis_logo_greyFusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce the acquisition of NHiS Limited by Wilmington Group plc. Fusion acted exclusively for the shareholders of NHiS Limited. The Fusion team responsible for the transaction were led by Mark Eisenstadt.

Wilmington Group will pay an initial cash consideration of £5.6m and a further deferred consideration of up to £3.75m subject to the Business achieving targets for the growth in underlying profit. 

The deferred consideration will be satisfied by issuing of up to 1.5m new Wilmington Group plc shares in October 2016 dependent interwilmington-logo alia upon NHiS’s audited future earnings for the years ended 30th June 2015 and 30th June 2016. The Business was acquired with cash of £0.6m and the initial consideration will be financed out of the Group’s existing £65m debt facility.

The existing executive management team led by Nick Merryfield, the founding Managing Director, and Paul Midgley will remain with the business and they, along with five other individuals, comprise the vendors of the Business.

Nick Merryfield, talking about the process said, “I must thank Fusion for orchestrating the sale process professionally and with great skill. As a leading provider of business intelligence, data analysis, workflow tools and other services to pharmaceutical companies in the UK we wanted to work with an M&A house that understood our business and the marketplace. Mark was our point man and was key in engineering a successful outcome.”

 

NHiS has been in operation since 2007 and is a leading provider of business intelligence, data analysis, workflow tools and other services to pharmaceutical companies in the UK. Around 40% of its revenue is derived from subscriptions and the business has enjoyed high overall renewal rates as defined by customer spend in excess of 90%. Over 75% of NHiS revenue is delivered digitally.

The Business will form part of the Wilmington Healthcare Division and will work closely with the highly complementary Binley’s Healthcare Information business.

NHiS’s last annual results to March 2012, showed revenue of £1.8m, up 45% from the prior year and profits before tax and nonrecurring costs of £0.8m. The Business has seen a strong start to the year and turnover for the first nine months increased by 20%. Deferred income as 31st December 2012 was up 50% on 31st December 2011. Gross Assets at 31st March 2012 were £1.6m. 

Charlie Brady, Chief Executive of Wilmington Group, said;

“NHiS is an innovative business that has built up a major business intelligence and technology capability in a complementary area where our own Binleys Healthcare Information continues to see good growth potential. The Business will benefit from being part of a larger group with the infrastructure and resources of Binleys. We are particularly pleased that the existing highly experienced management team are joining the Wilmington Group and look forward to working with them as they continue to develop NHiS”. 

UK, London & Nottingham

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Vitesse Media plc – trading update

February 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

vitessemedia

Vitesse Media Plc, the AIM-quoted media business, has issued a trading update ahead of the announcement of its full year audited results to 31 January 2013.

 

The announcement is as follows:

The Company’s performance in the second half of the year improved, with the trading loss in the second half reducing considerably, both against the first half of the financial year and the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Turning points have been reached in some of our key product titles. GrowthBusiness.co.uk, which was re-launched early in 2012, delivered like-for-like revenue increases in the final quarter of 13 per cent., compared to the same period the previous year.  WhatInvestment.co.uk, which was re-launched just before Christmas 2012, saw traffic increase 40 per cent. in January 2013 compared to January 2012, assisted by the improving stock market conditions.  In the Events division, our technology venture capital event, Investor All Stars, saw attendances reach a ten-year high.  This week we expect to complete the final stages of our investment programme, with the re-launch of the SmallBusiness.co.uk and Information-Age.com web sites.

During the last two years, our databases have been reconfigured into Sales Force, all four of our major web sites have been completely overhauled, all our titles have been digitised and there has been an investment in social media to extend our marketing capabilities.  Niki Baker was appointed CEO in September 2012 and the business was reorganised into four teams: SME Business, Technology, Investment and Events.  This has led to a greater focus on driving results.

Bookings for the first quarter of the financial year 2013/4 have stabilised and the plans to launch two new digital subscription products and two new events during the first half are at an advanced stage.

Despite the difficult trading conditions, the directors believe that the changes implemented over the past two years mean that the company is now fully positioned to develop as a growing digital, events and research business and view the outlook as encouraging.

UK, London

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Liberty Global confirms acquisition of Virgin Media – Deal Terms

February 6, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Liberty Global have confirmed that they are to acquire Virgin Media in a cash & stock merger.

Deal Terms

  • Virgin Media 2012 results (unaudited)Virgin Media
  • Revenue $6.6 billion
  • OCF $2.7 billion
  • OCF margin 41%

Virgin Media shareholders will receive for each share:

  • $17.50 in cash
  • 0.2582 shares of Liberty Global Series A common stockLiberty-Global-logo
  • 0.1928 shares of Liberty Global Series C common stock

Valuation

  • $47.87 per Virgin Media share
  • 24% premium to closing price
  • Implied Virgin Media equity value of $16.0 billion & enterprise value of $23.3 billion
  • Represents 8.8x 2012 OCF multiple
  • Represents 7.0x 2013E OCF multiple, after adjusting for synergies & taxes
  • Accretive to Free Cash Flow

Ownership

  • Liberty Global shareholders expected to own 64%
  • Virgin Media shareholders expected to own 36%

Path to completion

The transaction is subject to majority LGI & Virgin Media shareholder votes, regulatory approvals & customary closing conditions. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2013.

For full details see the Virgin Media Investor Call Presentation here.

USa, Englewood, CO & UK, London

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Daily Mail & General Trust PLC – Interim Management Statement to 30/12/12

February 6, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

DMGTDMGT has published its Interim Management Statement for the first quarter of their financial year, the three month period to 30th December, 2012.

It describes the Group’s financial position and performance during the period, updated to the latest practicable date.

Headlines

Trading in line with expectations; outlook for the year unchanged:

  • Revenue for the first quarter of £503 million, underlying# growth of 3% on last year
  • Continued good underlying# growth of 8% from the B2B businesses
  • Underlying# revenue decline of 4% at Associated Newspapers (now dmg media); improved profit margin driven by cost efficiencies
  • Further B2B bolt-on acquisitions
  • Disposal of Northcliffe Media effective 30th December, 2012
  • Commencement of share buy back programme
  • Outlook for the year unchanged

UBMDec12

Acquisitions

The principal acquisitions in the quarter were FirstSearch Environmental Information Network (FEIN), a £21 million bolt-on purchase by dmg information’s US propertyI nformation business, Environmental Data Resources (EDR) and the £5 million acquisition by Euromoney of an 87% stake in TTI/ Vanguard.

  • FEIN provides environmental professionals across the US with products that allow them to assess environmental contamination risks in respect of commercial real estate. The acquisition brings opportunities to upsell FEIN’s customers to EDR’s broader portfolio of products, improve EDR’s product offering and deliver cost synergies.
  • TTI/Vanguard is a private membership organisation for senior executives who lead technology innovation in global organisations. Enterprises subscribe to TTI/Vanguard’s conference series to explore the potential effects of emerging and potentially disruptive technologies. Euromoney has a successful record of acquiring events businesses and accelerating their growth globally and TTI/Vanguard is an expansion for Euromoney into the high-technology content sector.

Other acquisition payments in the quarter included £5 million for the remaining stake in RMS Japan; £2 million for Beat the GMAT, a bolt-on acquisition for Hobsons; £1 million for Renaissance, a bolt-on acquisition for Landmark, and earn-out payments in respect of historic acquisitions.

Disposals

Following dmg media’s November 2012 disposal of its central and eastern European digital consumer jobs and motors businesses, the remaining Hungarian print business, Lapcom, was sold in January 2013, completing dmg media’s exit from the region. In the year to September 2012, the disposed businesses contributed £4 million of profit before tax and £27 million of revenues. Disposal proceeds in the first quarter were £27 million and a further £62 million was received in January 2013 in respect of the disposals of Lapcom and Northcliffe Media.

Read the full announcement here

# See the full announcement for the definition of “underlying”

UK, London

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Electra Partners to acquire UBM’s Data Services businesses

February 5, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

electraPrivate equity business Electra Partners has made a binding offer to acquire a portfolio of UBM’s Data Services (Delta) businesses for £160 million. Delta represents the bulk of UBM’s Data Services segment and includes its Health, Technology and IP, Trade & Transport, and Paper business units. Operating in 28 countries worldwide, the businesses provide data and information products which professionals use to support their decision-making and day-to-day business activities.

In 2012, the businesses generated revenue of £179.3m (£190.0m in 2011) and adjusted operating profit of £27.4m (£27.7m in 2011). As at 30 June 2012 the businesses had gross assets of £295.5m.

Electra Private Equity PLC and the Electra Partners Club 2007 LP will invest approximately £127 million jointly. That is, £114 million and £13 million respectively at completion.

UBM

Upon completion, the cash consideration of approximately £100m (net of working capital adjustments) will be used to repay bank debt. The vendor loan note, which will be held at amortised cost, will carry a 6% PIK coupon and has a final maturity of six years.

Commenting on the offer, Alex Fortescue, Chief Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said: “UBM’s Data Services businesses are a robust and diverse portfolio of businesses offering mission critical data products to users across five continents and five vertical segments. We are excited by the opportunities to develop these businesses and deliver value growth.”

UK, London

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UBM plc will issue its Full Year results on 1st March 2013 and host an Investor

Presentation, at the London Stock Exchange, at 11am that morning.

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Gannett Co. reports strong fourth quarter financial results

February 5, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

gannettGannett Co., the international media and marketing solutions company, has reported strong fourth quarter financial results. With company revenue growth of 9% and non-GAAP earnings growth of 20 Percent. Worse then expected advertising results meant that shares in Gannett fell more than 5 per cent in midday trading on Monday.

Summary

Total operating revenues for the company were $1.52 billion in the fourth quarter, a 9.4 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter last year. A substantial increase in Broadcasting segment revenues, higher Publishing segment revenues as well as the extra week in the quarter drove the increase.

The increase in Broadcasting segment revenues reflects a record level of political spending in the quarter. Higher circulation revenue drove the increase in the Publishing segment.

Advertising revenues in the publishing segment totaled $657.5 million compared to $670.7 million in the fourth quarter a year ago, a 2.0 percent decline. Excluding the extra week, advertising revenues were 6.5 percent lower.

Total television revenues were 45.7 percent higher and totaled $280.2 million compared to $192.4 million in the fourth quarter last year. The revenue growth was driven by $91.2 million in politically related advertising during the fourth quarter of 2012. First quarter 2013 year-over-year comparisons will be unfavorably impacted by the absence of $5.1 million in political revenue and the move of the Super Bowl from NBC to CBS.

Digital segment operating revenues were $187.2 million compared to $181.5 million in the fourth quarter last year. Solid revenue growth at CareerBuilder drove the increase.

Gracia Martore, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are proud of our strong operating results this quarter with growth in revenue and margin expansion driving strong cash flow. This caps an extremely productive year in which we successfully implemented our strategy to position Gannett for success in the digital era. For the year, we achieved our first year-over-year increase in company-wide revenue since 2006. During the fourth quarter and for the full year, our Broadcasting business delivered record revenue and profitability. Our television stations significantly increased market share this year reflecting the value of their content and format in gaining new viewers while retaining their loyal base. Not to be outdone, local domestic publishing circulation revenue also increased for the third straight quarter driven by the success of our all access content subscription model. We are meeting or exceeding the revenue and operating profit goals we had for the all access content subscription model. Total digital revenue across Gannett increased 29 percent and represented 25 percent of total revenue. Our strategy is gaining momentum, our investments are bearing fruit and we are achieving the results we expected. We enter 2013 with our businesses performing well and poised for even greater success going forward. We remain confident we are well positioned to achieve our goals and to continue delivering on our promise to return increased value to shareholders,” Martore said.

Read the full report here

USA, McLean, VA

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