Independent News & Media report operating profits of £75M

March 23, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Independent News & Media PLC has announced the Group’s full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011. They are  in line with prior market guidance.

A detailed presentation on these results is available on the Group’s website inmplc.com.

Highlights

  • Operating Profit, pre-exceptionals, of €75.5 million (-8.6% on 2010)
  • Underlying Revenue down 5.6% (Reported Revenue down 10.9% on 2010)
  • Operating Costs were reduced by 11.3% to €482.5 million, despite a significant newsprint price increase in Island of Ireland and investment in digital
  • EBITDA of €102.2 million (including dividends received of €15.8 million)
  • Operating Margin of 13.5%, up 30bps on 2010
  • Continued progress in digital, with underlying revenue growth of 9.6%
  • Expansion of Irish Education business through acquisition of International House Dublin
  • Earnings Per Share (pre-exceptionals) of 9.8 cent
  • Continued significant reduction in Net Debt, down by €46.8 million (9.9%) to €426.8 million
 
*Underlying – in constant currency, excluding The Independentand Independent on Sunday titles in the UK (disposed of in April 2010) and compares 52 weeks in both 2011 and 2010

UK, London & Ireland, Dublin

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Scripps Networks Interactive is acquiring Travel Channel International for £65M

March 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Scripps Networks Interactive  is acquiring Travel Channel International Limited (TCI), an independent company headquartered in the United Kingdom that distributes the Travel Channel brand in 20 languages across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

The company produces and commissions original travel programming for distribution in 91 countries.

Scripps Networks Interactive will pay £65 million to acquire TCI. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012 pending regulatory approval.

“We are looking forward to integrating Travel Channel International into Scripps Networks Interactive’s portfolio of popular lifestyle networks,” said Kenneth W. Lowe, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Scripps Networks Interactive. “TCI brings unique value to us as we establish our brands in the global media marketplace. We’re enthusiastic about sharing our lifestyle programming expertise internationally, engaging a new set of passionate media consumers overseas, and increasing our footprint in Europe and Asia, building on the solid foundation we’ve established for the continued international growth of our brands.”

Formed in 2004, TCI has affiliate agreements with approximately 850 distributors. The company’s 46 full-time employees in London will join Scripps Networks Interactive at the completion of the transaction.

USA, Cincinnati, OH & UK, London

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IHS Acquires IMS Research for $46M

March 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

IHS Inc. has acquired IMS Research, an independent provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry, for approximately $46 million.

“The acquisition of IMS Research will help us expand our products and services in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) value chain, and better position IHS to deliver a more robust product offering to our customers in the global technology marketplace,” said IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. “The annual delivery nature of the IMS Research business is also an excellent fit for our subscription-based model.”

IMS Research provides research with proprietary data and market insight to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), component manufacturers and systems suppliers in the global electronics industry. The company’s products and services include syndicated market studies, custom research, consultancy services and events that deliver comprehensive, value-add data and in-depth actionable market intelligence, across the technology spectrum. It serves diverse industries across the technology spectrum, from semiconductors and wireless to industrial systems and alternative energy, helping clients in more than 50 countries better understand markets and shape strategies.

IMS Research was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Wellingborough, U.K. The company employs more than 140 people in the U.K., U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

USA, Englewood, CO & UK, Wellingborough

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UTV Media plc preliminary results for the year ended December 2011

March 20, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Radio, Television, New Media and Publishing company UTV Media plc has announced preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Highlights

  • Record pre-tax profits –  up by 10% to £23.3m (2010: £21.3m)
  • Group revenue up by 2% to £121.6m (2010: £118.9m)
  • Revenue growth of 6% in Radio GB
  • Irish Radio Revenues down by 4%
  • Television revenue up by 1% with net advertising revenue in line with the ITV Network
  • Group operating profit up by 3% to £26.8m (2010: £26.1m)
  • 23% or £16.8m reduction in net debt over 12 months to £54.7m (2010: £71.5m)
  • Net debt reduced by 49% over the last 3 years, a reduction of £52.9m
  • Net finance costs down by 26% to £3.5m (2010: £4.7m)
  • Impairment charge of £45.0m recognised on Republic of Ireland intangible assets with £19.0m due to higher Republic of Ireland sovereign debt risk
  • Pension deficit of £8.6m (2010: £6.8m) despite significant movement in discount rate (2011: 4.80% versus 2010: 5.40%)
  • Diluted adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations up by 12% to 18.96p (2010: 16.93p)
  • Proposed final dividend of 4.50p (2010: 3.00p) resulting in a full year dividend up by 50% to 6.00p (2010: 4.00p)

John McCann, Group Chief Executive, UTV Media plc, said, “I’m very pleased with the company’s performance against what has remained a testing economic background. The strength of these numbers firmly reflects UTV’s commitment to deliver innovative programming across platforms, driving audience share while at the same time effectively managing costs within the business and paying down our debt facilities. We remain committed to our strategy of delivering value through the development of a diversified portfolio of leading media assets. I am confident this foundation will see the business continue to perform into 2012.”

For full details click here

UK, Belfast

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Aegis Group plc announces preliminary results for 2011

March 15, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group plc has announced preliminary results for 2011.

Highlights:

  • Group organic revenue growth of 9.9% (2010: 5.3%), including 12.0% in fourth quarter
  • Group underlying operating margin of 17.4% (2010: 16.1%)
  • Strong performances from digital, faster-growing regions and North America
  • Record-equalling year in net new business, with $2.7 billion in billings (2010: $2.0 billion)
  • Aegis now a unique, scaled media and digital communications specialist, following sale of Synovate for enterprise value of £525m
  • Continued focus on acquisitions, with around £75m spent in initial consideration on 18 bolt-on acquisitions and investments in 2011
  • Appointment as global strategic media partner by General Motors Co. (“GM”) in January 2012, with anticipated annual global media spend of $3 billion
  • Proposed total dividend (excluding special dividend) increased to 3.20p, from 2.75p in 2010, including proposed final dividend of 2.01p
  • Expect to deliver continued sector-leading organic revenue growth and further improvement in underlying operating profit in 2012

 

Full details and notes on accounts are available here

Jerry Buhlmann, Chief Executive Officer of Aegis Group plc, said, “Aegis Group delivered a very strong performance in 2011, reporting sector-leading organic growth, positive margin progression and a record-equaling year in net new business wins of $2.7 billion.

“The successful sale of Synovate represented the largest structural change in our history and gives the Group increased flexibility to move ahead with our programme of targeted acquisitions and investments. We completed 18 acquisitions and investments in 2011, and they have improved our core capabilities and positioning in a number of key geographies. This is in line with our strategy to increase revenue contribution from digital, faster-growing regions and North America.

“All these achievements, coupled with recent successes, including our appointment as GM’s global strategic media partner, leave us well placed as the world’s leading specialist media and digital communications group. We are better positioned than ever before to support our clients in re-inventing the way their brands are built.

“We are optimistic about the outlook for the advertising sector in 2012, supported by key sporting events and the US Presidential Elections, and we anticipate further success for the Group in the year ahead and beyond. We expect to continue delivering sector-leading organic revenue growth which we expect to convert into further margin progression and earnings enhancement for our shareholders over time.”

UK, London

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Trinity Mirror – preliminary results for 2011.

March 15, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Trinity Mirror PLC has announced preliminary results for 2011.

Highlights

  • Total revenues fell to £746.6m during the year
  • Operating profit declined to £104.5m
  • Profits impacted by input cost increases
  • Newsprint prices increased by £22m; without newsprint increase operating profit would have seen a year-on-year increase
  • Increase in costs partially off-set by structural savings of £25m during the year and further cost reductions
  • Secured new financing to support business for the foreseeable future (see DigiNet article)
  • Reduced pension funding obligations
  • Resilient cash flows, improving financial position and secure longer term financing will underpin value proposition of business

 

Full details are available here

UK, London

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Trinity Mirror secures new financing facilities to August 2015

March 15, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Trinity Mirror PLC has secured new bank facilities to August 2015 ahead of the expiry of the Group’s bank facility in June 2013. The committed bank facilities are as follows:-

  • a new £110 million bank facility expiring in August 2015. The new facility is available from June 2013 or earlier if the current facility is cancelled. The new facility reduces to £102 million in March 2014 and to £94 million in March 2015.
  • the current £178.5 million bank facility expiring in June 2013 remains undrawn and has been reduced to £135 million with immediate effect.
  • financial covenants attached to the new  facility are a minimum interest cover of 4 times increasing in steps to 5 times from July 2013 and a maximum net debt to EBTIDA ratio of 2.75 times falling in steps to 2.25 times in January 2015. In addition, there is a cash flow covenant requiring a minimum cash flow, before interest, acquisitions and dividends of £40 million.

As part of the refinancing process, the Group reached agreement with the Trustees of the Group’s Pension Schemes to reduce deficit funding payments for 2012, 2013 and 2014 to £10 million per annum, before reverting to normalised funding payments of some £33 million per annum from 2015.

UK, London

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The new bank facility and reduced pension contributions ensure that the Group has sufficient financial flexibility for the foreseeable future.  The cash flow of the Group coupled with the flexibility of the new bank facility ensures the Group can repay £168 million of maturing US$ private placement loan notes which are due as follows:

 

·          June 2012:         £69.7 million

·          October 2013:    £54.5 million

·          June 2014:         £44.2 million

 

As part of the agreement with the Trustees of the Group’s Pension Schemes, additional discretionary payments can be made by the Group during 2012 to 2014 with mandatory additional contributions required over this period in the event:

 

·          EBITDA were to be greater than £145 million for 2012 and 2013 and EBITDA were to be greater than £130 million in 2014. In this instance contribution equal to 50% of the excess would be required to the Pension Schemes;and

·          Dividends were declared and paid by the Group. In this instance contributions equal to the dividend payment would be required to be paid the Pension Schemes.

 

The new bank facility was co-ordinated by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and Lloyds TSB Bank plc.

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Are CNN about to buy Mashable?

March 14, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

It is being reported that CNN are in advanced talks to buy Mashable for up to $200M.

Mashable describes itself as the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology. It stories are syndicated to publications including ABC News, CNN, Metro, USA Today and Yahoo! News.

Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005 in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, supposedly from his bedroom as “something to do without getting out of bed”. Mashable is now headquartered in New York City, with an office in San Francisco and has more than 40 staff across the United States, United Kingdom and in Eastern Europe.

Last August CNN bought Zite, a news app for the iPad that gives users a personalised magazine-like experience, for up to £16million.

Other reporting

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CNN acquires Zite Posted on September 5, 2011

USA, New York, NY & Scotland, Aberdeenshire

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Mecom acquires additional shareholding in Wegener

March 14, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Mecom Group PLC is to acquire a 13.3 per cent. interest in Koninklijke Wegener N.V. from funds managed by Governance for Owners (“GfO”) for a consideration of 8,659,201 ordinary shares in Mecom (which, based on the closing share price on 13th March 2012, implies a transaction value of €16.9m). On Completion, Mecom will hold 99.7 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of Wegener. GfO’s shareholding in Mecom post Completion will be 7.1 per cent.

Wegener is the largest publisher of regional daily newspapers and free door-to-door newspapers in the Netherlands. Wegener’s seven regional daily titles account for 23 per cent. of the country’s total paid-for daily newspaper circulation by volume, and its more than 200 door-to-door weekly freesheets have a daily readership of around 5.5 million.   In addition to its core print business, Wegener owns and operates a portfolio of more than 200 websites, comprising the online editions of its seven paid daily newspapers and most of its weekly freesheets, and several standalone special interest websites.

Wegener’s total revenue from the audited accounts for the year ending 31st December 2011 was €513 million, of which 46 per cent. came from advertising and 40 per cent. from newspaper circulation. Wegener’s profit before tax for the year ended 31st December 2011 was €37 million. The consolidated gross assets of Wegener as at 31st December 2011 amounted to €639 million.

The transaction allows for simplification of Mecom’s group structure, provides operational and commercial efficiencies and will enhance earnings per share for the Group going forward. The acquisition is classified as a Related Party Transaction under the UK Listing Rules and therefore requires the approval of Mecom shareholders at a general meeting, to be held on 2nd April 2012

Tom Toumazis, Chief Executive of Mecom, said, “The acquisition of this substantial minority shareholding in Wegener will simplify the Group’s ownership structure and allow us to integrate our Dutch operations fully within one legal structure and management team.  We look forward to continuing our dialogue with Governance for Owners in their new position as shareholders in Mecom.”

UK, London & Netherlands, Amsterdam

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Mecom Group announces 2011 results

March 14, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Mecom Group PLC has announced its results for the year-ending 2012

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Adjusted EBITDA from ongoing operations down €7.2 million to €113.6 million
  • Non-advertising revenues up 1 per cent to €594.4 million, representing 56 per cent of total revenue
  • Advertising revenues down 7 per cent to €461.5 million
  • Net debt reduced by €52.2 million to €258.5 million. Net debt : EBITDA ratio of 1.8 times 2011 (2010: 2.0 times)
  • Group earnings per share increased to 46.2 euro cents per share
  • Final dividend of 9.9 euro cents per share; full year dividend of 15.4 euro cents per share
  • New strategy based on implementation of pay model across all platforms, including mobile, and €70 million cost reduction programme
  • Agreement on purchase of Wegener minority announced separately today – simplifies Group structure, provides operational and commercial efficiencies and will enhance earnings per share

Notes

  1. From ongoing operations, that is excluding Mecom Norway and Presspublica; stated before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles.
  2. Excluding results of Presspublica, which was sold during 2011; stated before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles.
  3. For total Group, that is including Mecom Norway and Presspublica; stated before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles.

Tom Toumazis, Chief Executive Officer, said, “The 2011 financial results emphasise again the value of our 1.2 million subscribers that deliver over 80 per cent of our EBITDA, particularly in an environment where advertising revenues continue to be under pressure. The announcements we have made on the purchase of the minority shareholder in Wegener and the termination of the De Pers contract will greatly simplify the ownership structure and management of our Dutch operations and, in the case of De Pers, will remove a considerable, and growing, operating and financial risk.  We can now focus unambiguously on the modernisation plan that we set out in our Strategy Update on 24th January. Early indications are that 2012 will be another tough year economically.  Our new strategy based on paid platforms, our cost cutting plans across our three markets and the strength of our non-advertising revenues, position us well to address the challenges that this will bring.”

More information is available here.

UK, London

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