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CME’s Bulgarian Unit Seen Posting Profit in Fourth Quarter
April 21, 2010, Bloomberg
by Lenka Ponikelska
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd., the broadcaster in Eastern Europe that sold a stake to Time Warner Inc., expects its Bulgarian operations to become profitable in the fourth quarter.
“Our goal in Bulgaria is a fast integration and its quick profitability,” Chief Executive Officer Adrian Sarbu said in an interview in Prague. The executive was referring to Ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax and depreciation.
The company, known as CME, said on April 20 it completed the acquisition of Bulgarian channel bTV from News Corp. to strengthen its operations in the Black Sea country. CME expects to have more than 40 percent of audience share and between 50 percent and 60 percent share in the country’s advertising market, he said.
The broadcaster plans to complete the integration of its first two Bulgarian channels with bTV operations in “a few months”, Sarbu said. After the merger, Bulgaria will become CME’s third-largest market by revenue, following the Czech Republic and Romania.
CME operates TV channels in the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bulgaria. The company divested its unprofitable Ukrainian unit, moved its main operations from London to Prague and adjusted programming costs amid the economic crisis.
The broadcaster still has between $300 million and 400 million in cash for possible acquisitions or buying back its debt after purchasing bTV, Sarbu said.
“If there’s an opportunity to acquire a profitable asset, we’d consider that,” Sarbu said. “There are operations for sale, it’s just a matter of price.”
For additional information, please contact:
Romana Wyllie
Vice President of Corporate Communications
Central European Media Enterprises
Krizeneckeho nam. 1078/5
152 00 Praha 5
Czech Republic
+420 242 465 525
romana.wyllie@cme-net.com
