Romania and Slovakia were ad growth engines for Central European Media Enterprises (CME) in the first half of this year, while Bulgaria returned to growth in the second quarter.
Other highlights in the company’s latest results include 6% growth in carriage fees and subscription revenues in H1 and operating income in H1 more than doubling at constant rates.
Net revenues in Q2 amounted to $175,206,999, (+5% actual and +2.8% Lfl on a year earlier). Operating income was $43,891,000 (+20.4%, +17.9%) and OIBDA $53,632,000 (+14.6%, +12.1%).
In H1, net revenues amounted to $304,206 (+3.8%, +3.4%) and operating income $51,654,000 (+169%, +150.8%). OIBDA was $70,740,000 (+21.4%, +18.4%).
Net losses in Q2 and H1 were $141,317,000 and $181,752,000 respectively, compared to $8,678,000 and $81,952,000 a year earlier.
In revenue terms, the Czech Republic was the leading market both in Q2 and H1, despite posted lower figures in the second quarter than in the same period last year.
Commenting on the results, Michael Del Nin, co-CEO, said: “Our performance in the second quarter, marked by strong OIBDA growth and margin expansion, exceeded our expectations and contributed to a very solid first half of the year for us. Looking ahead to the rest of 2016, we remain very upbeat about our prospects for further growth and expect continued progress on our deleveraging plans.”
Christoph Mainusch, co-CEO, added: “Our audience share leadership in all six countries continued during the second quarter. And we sustained increased investment in the local content that is popular with our audiences, while reducing costs overall in order to maximize profitability.”
