Rambler Released Audited Financial Results for 2008
OREANDA-NEWS. On 05 May 2009 Rambler Media Ltd. (“Rambler” , the “Company” or the “Group”), operating one of Russia’s most popular internet brands, announces its consolidated financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the twelve months ended 31 December 2008. The following information has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
59% year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to USD 110.0 million (2007, USD 69.1 million)
89% year-on-year growth in consolidated contextual revenue to USD 47.0 million (2007, USD 24.9 million)
49% year-on-year growth in display / banner advertising to USD 49.5 million (2007, USD 33.3 million) despite marked slow down in Q4 2008
112% year-on-year growth in consolidated EBITDA to USD 16.1 million (2007, USD 7.6 million) with EBITDA margin of 14.7% (2007, 11%). Adverse macroeconomic conditions in Q4 2008, which is usually the strongest quarter in the year, halted the progress that the Company had demonstrated in the previous five quarters
Consolidated net profit after interest and tax of USD 3.3 million (2007, USD 5.7 million profit including net gain of USD 7.1 million from disposal of TV operation). First year of positive net profit from continuing operations
Significant cost saving measures initiated in Q4 2008, including headcount reduction from 730 employees as at 31 October 2008 down to 660 employees at 31 December 2008 with further cost reductions planned for 2009
USD 15.8 million cash generated from operations (2007, USD 12.0 million)
Strong balance sheet with cash position of USD 29.0 million including USD 4.1 million in Begun and zero debt at 31 December 2008
Chairperson’s Statement
“Rambler Media entered 2008 with an ambitious programme to launch new services and partnerships in order to benefit from the growth in online advertising market in
“However, the global credit crisis and its effect on the market outlook have continued to worsen in 2009. These factors together with a general lack of liquidity on AIM have contributed to the company’s share price falling to an all time low. New market realities require a necessity to implement the Group’s strategy for growth with even more determination and focus on effective cost management going forward.
“In March 2009, we announced the appointment of new Board directors. I am honored to have joined Rambler at this challenging time. Important initiatives have already been implemented to aggressively manage the Group’s costs and position Rambler stronger as advertisers will allocate more of their spending on the internet in
“We continue to believe in the long-term opportunities that the internet offers in
“On behalf of Rambler Media’s Board of Directors, I would like to thank all shareholders for their continued support and all employees for their hard work and dedication.”
Julia Solovieva, Chairperson
Rambler User Statistics
Unique number of visitors to rambler.ru up 28% year-on-year to 38 million per month on average in the year (2007, 29.6 million). Rambler reached a peak of 45 million unique visitors in December
Average monthly page views reached 2.7 billion during 2008, up 16% from 2007.
Total number of registered email accounts reached 48.6 million, up 60% year-on-year, with over 15 million active accounts.
Total Russian online advertising market reached around USD 590 million (RUR14.7 billion) in 2008, thus growing 55% from 2007 and accounting for around 5% of the total Russian advertising market.
Russian Internet display advertising up 45% year-on-year in 2008 to USD 233 million (RUR 5.8 billion) and accounted for 40% of total online ad spending
Russian Contextual advertising up 61% year-on-year in 2008 to USD 358 million (RUR 8.9 billion) and accounted for 60% of total online ad spending
Financial Review
“I joined Rambler’s management team as CFO in October 2008. I have been a dedicated Rambler user since 1997 and for me, the chance to participate in the sustainable growth of Rambler, one of
In 2008, Rambler reported major improvements in its financial results. Revenue was up nearly 60% year-on-year and the Group generated healthy cash flows. The noticeable slowdown which affected the advertising market in
In 2009, we are facing new global uncertainties and more adverse market conditions. The recent slowdown in the market is likely to continue and has prompted us to implement cost reductions across our operations and expenses with heightened financial discipline. We have introduced a ‘Profit and Loss approach’ to project management when developing new products, thus ensuring that responsibility is taken across the organisation both for top-line and bottom-line results. These elements have been introduced as part of Rambler’s renewed focus on media and entertainment core strategy. A number of projects that do not appear to be effective or consume too much resource are under review and we will reallocate those resources to more promising products. These measures will continue to be implemented as we seek to aggressively control our cost base so as to continue the year-on-year progress in profitability that Rambler has been making.
It is important to note that the continuing weakening of the Ruble/USD exchange rate will have an impact on the Group’s reported USD results in 2009. However, our activities are conducted primarily in Roubles and we expect our full year Rouble results to remain at similar levels in 2009 compared to 2008. Rambler’s websites remain among the most popular in
We are confident that, of all media channels, the internet will be best placed to withstand these difficult conditions as it presents advertisers with cost effective and highly targeted ways to reach a premium Russian audience. There is ample room for internet to increase its share of the total advertising market in Russia, which currently stands at only around 5% of ‘ad pie’ even though Russia constitutes one of the largest internet communities in Europe”.
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