OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2012. CTC Media, Inc. (“CTC Media” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, reported the press-centre of CTC Media. 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Total revenues up 19% year-on-year in ruble terms to USD 191.1 million

Russian advertising revenues up 14% year-on-year in ruble terms

OIBDA up 38% year-on-year in US dollar terms to USD 55.1 million, with an OIBDA margin of 28.8%

Fully diluted earnings per share of USD 0.21 (Q1 2011: USD 0.14)

Net cash position of USD 111.0 million at the end of the period

Payment of cash dividends of USD 0.13 per share (or USD 20.6 million in the aggregate) in the first quarter

Board of Directors currently intends to pay aggregate cash dividends of approximately USD 80 million in 2012 and has declared a cash dividend of USD 0.13 per share (or approximately USD 21 million in the aggregate) to be paid on or about June 20, 2012 to shareholders of record as of June 1, 2012, with further dividends anticipated in the remaining quarters of 2012

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

Combined Russian national inventory was 95% sold-out for Q1 and is approximately 85% sold-out for the full year

Domashny and Peretz Networks recorded all-time high Q1 target audience shares of 3.7% and 2.6%, respectively

Launch of CTC-International channel on free-to-air in Kyrgyzstan in April and on HOT BIRD™ 8 satellite making the channel available on cable and satellite networks in Kazakhstan in February

Videomore.ru received an average of 340,000 unique visitors per day in Q1 2012, up from 65,000 in Q1 2011 and 270,000 in Q4 2011.

Boris Podolsky, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer of CTC Media, commented, “Our first quarter total revenues were up 15% year-on-year in US dollar terms and 19% in Ruble terms. This included 14% year-on-year growth in our Russian advertising sales in ruble terms with a stable blended power ratio. OIBDA was up 38% year-on-year with an increased margin of 28.8% in the first quarter.

“The Russian TV advertising market is estimated to have grown by up to 10% year-on-year in the first quarter, so we clearly took market share following substantial year-on-year increases in the ratings for our Domashny and Peretz Networks, which recorded all-time high target audience shares. In addition, we benefited from rising prices in the period. We also generated substantially higher sublicensing and own production revenues due to the sale of successful CTC channel premiere shows to broadcasters in Ukraine.

“Our CIS Group revenues were up 40% year-on-year in US dollar terms, which primarily reflected the high sellout ratio for Channel 31 in Kazakhstan. Our content has now become more broadly available following the uplinking in February of the CTC-International pay-TV channel to the HOT BIRD satellite, which provides access to countries in Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and we have just made the channel available in Kyrgyzstan. The number of unique daily visitors to our Videomore online video platform was up 26% quarter-on-quarter, and our recently launched Domashny-branded portal for women has already established itself as one of the ten most visited female online portals in Russia.

“We have continued to invest in in-house content production, programming acquisition, our operations and the expansion of the overall businesses in the quarter and will continue to do so. We paid out a quarterly cash dividend of USD 20.6 million in the first quarter and ended the quarter with net cash of USD 111.0 million. As previously announced, we intend to pay out further dividends of the same amount in each of the remaining quarters of 2012, which is in line with our stated intention to return surplus free cash flow to shareholders.

“Our Russian channels are now approximately 85% sold out for 2012 at higher average prices than last year. We will continue to invest and do therefore continue to expect the OIBDA margin for the full year to be lower than the adjusted level for 2011.”

The CTC Network was the third most-watched broadcaster in Russia in the first quarter of 2012, up from the fourth most-watched in the first quarter of 2011, while its average target audience share was slightly down year-on-year to 11.0% from 11.2%, reflecting increased competition and continued audience fragmentation. At the same time, CTC’s target audience share in prime time (from 7pm until 11pm) was up year-on-year in the first quarter to 12.5% from 12.3%, reflecting the success of the premieres launched in 2012. CTC Network’s average audience share in the most commercially attractive “all 14-44” demographic was also up year-on-year in the first quarter to 12.1% from 12.0%.

The Domashny Network recorded its all-time high quarterly target audience share of 3.7% in the first quarter of 2012, up from 2.8% in the first quarter of 2011. The significant year-on-year increase was primarily driven by success of the Turkish historical drama series “Magnificent Century” and supported by the strong overall programming schedule.

The Peretz Network also recorded its all-time high quarterly target audience share of 2.6% in the first quarter of 2012, up from 2.0% in the first quarter of 2011. The year-on-year growth was primarily driven by success of the programming schedule introduced following the channel’s repositioning, which primarily included locally produced entertainment shows.

As previously announced, starting from January 1, 2012, the target audiences of the Domashny and Peretz Networks have been slightly adjusted as part of a standardization of advertising inventory that is taking place in the Russian television industry. Thus, Domashny’s target audience has been modified from “females 25-60” to “females 25-59”; Peretz’s target audience has been modified from “all 25-54” to “all 25-59”.

Channel 31’s average target audience share was slightly down year-on-year in the first quarter to 14.5% from 14.8%.

For more information about CTC Media, please visit www.ctcmedia.ru.