CME reports its 1H05 figures today before the US markets open with a conference call scheduled for 5:00pm CET. The dial-in number: +1 973 409 9259. We expect CME’s revenues to show strong y-o-y growth, driven in particular by CME’s operations in Romania and Ukraine. CME should also consolidate 100% of TV Nova for one month. However, we expect CME to post a 1H loss due to consolidated Croatian operations and one-offs relating to the acquisition of TV Nova.
US GAAP, USD 000s 1H05E 1H04 change Consensus
Sales 128,767 80,734 59.50% -
EBITDA 22,453 27,080 -17.09% -
EBIT 4,099 11,995 -65.83% -
Pre-tax -96 10,647 n.m. -
Net income -2,987 8,405 n.m. -
EPS annualized (fully diluted) -0.23 0.64 n.m. -
Also, the Senate should continue its discussions on banning TV ads on state television. The possibility of a gradual ban on TV ads on public TV channels from 2008 should benefit TV Nova and TV Prima (the two private channels), which would stand to share part of the $40m per year currently spent on state TV ads, thereby increasing their respective market shares. This would raise our fair value of CME by $2 per share.