OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2011. CTC Media, Inc. (“CTC Media” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter, ended September 30, 2011, reported the press-centre of CTC Media.

Q3 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Total operating revenues up 12% year-on-year in US dollar terms and up 7% in ruble terms on a comparable basis, to USD 159.6 million

Russian advertising revenues up 9% year-on-year in ruble terms on a comparable basis

Adjusted OIBDA up 18% year-on-year in US dollar terms to USD 48.1 million, with an improved adjusted comparable-basis OIBDA margin of 30.2%

Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share up 19% year-on-year to USD 0.19 (Q3 2010: USD 0.16)

Net cash position of USD 132.2 million at the end of the period

The Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of \\$0.22 per share (or approximately \\$35 million in the aggregate) to be paid on or about December 31 to shareholders of record as of December 1, 2011.

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
Combined Russian national inventory almost fully sold-out for Q3 and approximately 95% sold-out for the full year

Establishment of new unified content production company Story First Production in July to merge Costafilm and Soho Media platforms

Launch of new digital broadcasting complex in Moscow in July

• DTV Network relaunched under the “Peretz” brand name and logo in October, with significant changes made to its programming grid

Channel 31 in Kazakhstan recorded an all-time high average quarterly audience share of 17.7% in Q3

Videomore.ru received an average of 350,000 unique visitors per day in Q3, up from 120,000 in Q2

CTC Media’s content is now available on VimpelCom’s IPTV platform Beeline TV, through an interactive subscription service

Anton Kudryashov, Chief Executive Officer of CTC Media, commented: “We continue to capture the growth in the Russian TV advertising market with an almost fully sold out inventory for Q3 at prices that are significantly higher year-on-year and with an increased blended power ratio. However, as expected, the market growth slowed down in Q3 compared to the first half of 2011 and our revenue dynamics were also affected by lower year-on-year audience shares of our flagship CTC channel.

“Our Fall schedule ratings have gradually improved as the season has progressed and as our major prime time premieres have been rolled out. DTV’s repositioning to Peretz has been launched, and the introduction of a new communications platform and programming grid for the channel marks the first step of this process. Growth in CTC Media’s other markets continues to exceed expectations, mainly due to a substantial increase in the average target audience shares of Channel 31 in Kazakhstan and the dynamic growth in scale and reach of CTC-International and our new media activities. The number of unique daily visitors of our online social television network Videomore.ru almost tripled during the third quarter, driven by catch-up viewings of our prime-time shows. We also recently launched a female dedicated portal under the Domashny channel brand and a unique video application-based subscription service for Beeline TV IPTV customers, the first of its kind on the Russian market. 

“We are now approximately 95% sold-out for the full year, but the growth outlook for the advertising market in the near to mid-term has become more volatile and we are seeing signs of a slowdown in advertiser demand and a risk of some unsold inventory in the fourth quarter. Consequently, we now expect like-for-like total operating revenue growth of between 9% and 11% year-on-year in ruble terms for the full year. We also now expect to report an OIBDA margin of between 31% and 33% for the full year 2011 (excluding any potential additional non-recurring non-cash asset impairment charges), which is equivalent to between 35% and 37% under the terms of the advertising sales structure that was in place prior to 2011. We continue to expect full year CAPEX, excluding acquisitions, to amount to up to USD 25 million.

“We paid a cash dividend of USD 0.22 per share in October and declared a further dividend to be paid in the fourth quarter. Our anticipated total full-year dividend payments will therefore amount to USD 130 million, higher than in 2010, which reflects the high levels of cash generation and conversion in the business. We continue to invest in the development of our existing operations, as well as to seek and review new opportunities to expand our presence in Russia and abroad.”