Archive for May, 2011

KIT digital Revenues Jump 98% in Q1 2011, Says M&A Phase is Over and Company Will Now Focus on Organic Growth Strategy

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Broadcast Vendor M&A, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 10 2011

IPTV asset management provider KIT digital reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was $34.5m, an increase of 98% versus the same period a year ago and an increase of 5% versus the previous quarter.  On an organic basis, revenue increased approximately 38% versus the same period a year ago.

The company posted a GAAP net loss of $12.5m for the quarter, compared to a GAAP net loss of $18.4m last year, and a GAAP net loss of $8.5m in the previous quarter.  The GAAP net loss includes $7.3m in non-cash charges and $12m in restructuring and integration expenses related to the reorganization and integration of recently acquired companies.

Operating EBITDA (a non-GAAP metric which the company uses as a proxy for operating cash-flow) was $7.1m in first quarter of 2011, increasing 5% sequentially and 139% over the same year-ago quarter.  Operating EBITDA margin increased from 17.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 20.5% in the first quarter of 2011, largely due to the reduced portion of professional services-related revenues and the increase in software fee-related revenues.

KIT’s CFO Robin Smyth said the company will “adopt a traditional EBITDA metric and demonstrate strong free cash-flow generation” once it has “cycled through the necessary restructuring and integration charges from recent acquisitions.” This will happen by the third quarter, he said.

Following the payment of consideration related to the acquisitions of ioko and Polymedia, as well as all related restructuring and integration charges and advisory fees, KIT digital expects to have approximately $38 million in cash and equivalents.

Company chairman and CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman said he was very pleased with the results of the first quarter, “particularly when you consider the lower digital media usage levels and consequent negative seasonality of Q1 over Q4 throughout the industry.”

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Financial Guidance:

Because much of KIT’s growth has come via M&A, including the recent purchases of Kewego, KickApps, and Kyte (January 2011), Polymedia (March 2011) and ioko (April 2011), KIT management provided new guidance that includes all recently acquired businesses.  The company now estimates that it will report approximately $48m of revenues in the current second quarter (including contributions from ioko and Polymedia), and reiterated its estimates of approximately $210m of revenues and 23% EBITDA margin for fiscal 2011.

Tuzman added: “We are also glad to report we have completed the bulk of the restructuring work related to our acquisitions to date, and expect below-the-line restructuring and integration charges to approach zero by the beginning of the third quarter — two to three months earlier than we originally anticipated. This should allow us to report a ‘clean’ back-half of 2011, without adjustments to cash EBITDA, allowing for a harmonization of EBITDA and more traditional GAAP and cash-flow metrics.”

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Organic Growth Strategy:

The company says that its recent M&A activities have enabled it to reach its long-stated goal of  a 45-50% market share in the IP video platform software sector, and that it will now focus on organic growth.  “Going forward, we expect the pace of our M&A activity to slow dramatically, as we optimize what we have acquired,” said Tuzman.

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Related Content:

Press Release: KIT digital Reports First Quarter 2011 Results

More Broadcast Vendor M&A: Kit Digital Buys ioko for $79.4m, Completes Buying Spree

KIT digital Reports Q4 and Fiscal 2010 Results, Raises Guidance, Says Big M&A Deal Still on Track

More Broadcast Vendor M&A: KIT digital Acquires Polymedia for $34.4m

More Broadcast Vendor M&A: Kit Digital Buys Three Companies for $77m, Says larger Acquisition is Coming

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More Broadcast Vendor M&A: Vizrt Completes Acquisition of LiberoVision

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Broadcast Vendor M&A | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 10 2011

Vizrt reported that it has reached a definitive share purchase agreement with LiberoVision, a provider of sports replay technology. The deal was first announced in November of 2010.

According to the agreement, Vizrt’s Swiss subsidiary will purchase LiberoVision in three installments. Vizrt will initially acquire 60% of LiberoVision for CHF 6 million (approximately $6.6 million) plus an additional CHF 1 million conditional on LiberoVision’s EBIT for 2010 being in excess of CHF 1 million.

A further 20% will be acquired 30 days following receipt of the financial results of LiberoVision for the financial year 2011 and the remaining 20% 30 days following receipt of LiberoVision’s financial results for the financial year 2012. The consideration for each additional 20% tranche of LiberoVision shall be calculated as 20% of ten times the EBIT for the applicable fiscal year.

As part of the transaction, the founders of LiberoVision are committed to continue their employment with LiberoVision for a period of at least two years.

Martin Burkhalter, CEO for Vizrt, stated, “We’re pleased to have finalized the purchase agreement, which will allow us to integrate LiberoVision’s technology further into our own sports offerings. At this year’s NAB, we successfully showcased the first steps in the integration of LiberoVision’s Libero Highlight 3D sports analysis and replay system with Vizrt’s broadcast graphics and media asset management (MAM) workflow. With this integration, we can address our respective client bases with an even stronger platform.”

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Related Content:

Press Release: Vizrt Signs Definitive Share Purchase Agreement in LiberoVision Acquisition

More Broadcast Vendor M&A: Vizrt Acquires Sports Replay Provider LiberoVision

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DTS Q1 Revenue Jumps 23% Thanks to Increasing Adoption of Blu-Ray

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 10 2011

Audio technology provider DTS reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was $26.8m, an increase of 23% versus the same period last year.  The company’s net income from continuing operations increased 45% to $5.7m.

Non-GAAP operating margins were 44% and non-GAAP income from continuing operations was $7.1m in the quarter, compared to non-GAAP operating margins of 40% and non-GAAP income from continuing operations of $5.3m in the first quarter of 2010.

“We are pleased to announce a strong first quarter where growth continued to be driven by the increasing adoption of Blu-ray and network connected entertainment products, and a solid contribution from the car market,” commented Jon Kirchner, chairman and CEO of DTS, Inc. “The first quarter was a strong start to what we believe will be an important year of growth and strategic progress for DTS. We continue to advance our strategy to penetrate next-generation, network-based content ecosystems, expanding our business meaningfully beyond optical media.”

The company offered guidance, saying that it expects full year 2011 revenue to be in the range of $100m to $105m, with non-GAAP operating margins in the low 40 percent range.

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Related Content:

Press Release: DTS Reports Strong First Quarter 2011 Results

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Dolby Says Q2 Revenue Increased 3%, But Lowers Outlook for Full Year

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 09 2011

Dolby announced that its revenue for the second quarter of its 2011 fiscal year was $250m, an increase of 3% versus the same period a year ago, and an increase of 3% versus the previous quarter.

GAAP net income in the quarter was $82.1m, a decrease of 4% versus the same period a year ago, and a decrease of 5% versus last quarter (when the company’s net income figure was helped by various discrete tax items).

Licensing revenue during the quarter was $214.6m, a 10% increase versus the second quarter of last year, and a 14% increase versus the previous quarter.  Product revenue in the quarter was $26.3m, down 34% from a year ago, and down 43% from last quarter.  Service revenue in the quarter increased 19% versus last year to $9.1m.  The overall gross margin for the quarter was 89%.

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Guidance Lowered

Dolby issued financial guidance, saying that it is now targeting full year revenue of $905m to $945m, and continues to expect total gross margin of approximately 88 percent on a GAAP basis. Last quarter Dolby said it was targeting fiscal 2011 revenue in the range of $930m to $970m.

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Press relase: Dolby Laboratories Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results

Dolby Reports Increase Revenue and Profit in Q1, But Cuts Guidance Due to Slowdown in PC Market

Dolby’s Q2 2010 results are here

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PlayBox Says Sales Were Up 60 Percent in Q1 2011, Up 250 Percent Since 2008

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 09 2011

Integrated playout (channel-in-a-box) vendor PlayBox said in a press release that the its revenue in the first quarter of 2011 increased 60% versus the same period a year ago, and that it expects a similar level of growth to continue for the remainder of the year.

PlayBox also said that it has been growing at more than thirty percent per year for the past two years, and that its current revenue is 250% higher than in 2008.

Company executives attribute the company’s growth the global move to HDTV broadcasting as well as a large number of channels that are now being delivered over the internet.

PlayBox is privately held and it has not disclosed its revenue, or the base from which its revenue doubled.

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Related Content:

Press Release: 60% Sales Growth at PlayBox Technology

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Chyron Q1 Revenue Dips 4 Percent Due to Seasonality As It Gears Up for Growth in Second Half of 2011

broadcast industry technology trends, Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 05 2011

Broadcast graphics specialist Chyron reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was $6.58m, a decrease of 4% versus the same period a year ago, and a decrease of 6% versus the previous quarter.

Net loss for the quarter was $0.44m, an improvement on the $0.65m net loss for the first quarter of 2010, but slightly worse than the net loss of $0.33m during the previous quarter. Operating loss in the quarter was $0.89m, compared to an operating loss of $0.46m in the prior year’s first quarter.

Company president and CEO Michael Wellesley-Wesley attributed the lower results to the timing of large enterprise orders, and the cyclical nature of the first quarter when many broadcasters delay purchase decision in advance of the annual NAB trade show. “Our first quarter results were in the neighborhood of what we reported last year and reflect a seasonal cycle whereby Q1 is traditionally our weakest. Many broadcast capital spending plans are finalized in Q1 and there is a natural sales pause leading up to the National Association of Broadcasters (“NAB”) conference, which is the industry’s largest trade show and ‘the’ venue to debut new technology.”

Product revenue in the quarter was $5.04m, down 6% versus both last year and the previous quarter. Service revenue in the quarter was $1.54m, up 2% versus last year, but down 7% versus last quarter. Service revenue accounted for 23% of total revenue during the quarter.

On the company’s earnings conference call, Wellesley-Wesley highlighted some of the company’s recent commercial success, including Sinclair Broadcast Group’s purchase BlueNet for 13 news-producing station, and Norwegian public broadcaster, NRK’s purchase of BlueNet for its 12 regional news stations. Wellesley-Wesley called the NRK deal “particularly gratifying from a competitive standpoint.”

Gross profit margin was 70% for the first quarter of 2011, the same as for the first quarter of 2010. Operating expenses were $5.49m for the first quarter, up 4% versus last year, primarily due to increased spending in the sales and marketing areas.

Wellesley-Wesley said that Chyron had reorganized its sales operations in 2010 and is now in the process of adding more sales resources in the US and internationally. As a result, the company’s sales and marketing costs have risen 15%, and the CEO says that he expects these costs to continue to increase as the company positions itself to take advantage of what it believes will be an upswing in spending through 2012.

“We remain guardedly optimistic that the broadcast market will continue its recovery and that our expanded sales team will capitalize on this renewed growth in Q2 2011 and beyond,” said Wellesley-Wesley.

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Related Content:

Press release: Chyron Reports Financial Results For The First Quarter 2011

Chyron Revenue Increases 8% in 2010 as Company Achieves Positive EBITDA on Smaller Losses. Separately, SVP and COO Kevin Prince Resigns

Previous year press release: Chyron Reports Financial Results For The First Quarter 2010

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DG (Fastchannel) Q1 Results Up Significantly Year-Over-Year, But Down Versus Last Quarter

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 05 2011

HD programming and advertising content delivery service  provider DG (formerly DG Fastchannel) reported that its revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was $64.7m, an increase of 19%  versus last year, but a decrease of 15% versus the previous quarter.

GAAP net income in the first quarter was $12.7m, an increase  of 59% versus the same period last year, but down 13% versus the previous quarter. First quarter non-GAAP net income was $15.5m, an increase of 49% versus last year, but down 28% versus the previous quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $29.4m, an increase of 22% compared to the same period of 2010, but a decrease of 23% versus the previous quarter.

Revenue from the delivery of HD advertising content during the quarter was $32.45m, an increase of 64% versus the same period a year ago, but down 6% compared to the previous quarter.

Separately, the company announced that it recently completed a $30 million stock repurchase program, and that its board has approved a further stock repurchase program authorizing the company to purchase up to $50 million of its common stock.

DG also said it has secured a new $150m revolving credit facility to fund future expansion strategic growth initiatives, along with general corporate purposes. Lenders included Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., US Bank, Comerica Bank and Fifth Third Bank.

“We are pleased with our first quarter results, which reflect strength across all of our business units,” said Neil Nguyen, President of DG. “The continued migration of advertising content delivery to HD once again positively impacted our financial performance, contributing to our record results for the quarter.”

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Related Content:

Press Release: DG® Reports Record First Quarter 2011 Results

Press Release: DG Announces $50 Million Stock Repurchase Program

More Broadcast Vendor M&A: DG Fastchannel Acquires Canadian Ad Firm MIJO, Second M&A Deal in Six Months

DG Q4 2010 Results: DG Doubles Net Income in 2010 as HD Ad Delivery Revenue Increases 72%

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More Broadcast Vendor M&A: Technicolor Completes Disposal of Grass Valley Head-End Business

Broadcast technology vendor financials, Broadcast Vendor M&A | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 04 2011

Technicolor has completed the final element of its disposal of the Grass Valley broadcast business. The company announced that it has finalized the sale of the former Grass Valley head-end business to FCDE, an investment fund financed by the FSI (Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement) and major banks and insurance companies operating in France.

Similar to the previous Grass Valley disposals, includingthe sale of the Grass Valley to Francisco Partners, and the sale of its transmission business to PARTER Capital, Technicolor said “the offer values the head-end business for a non-material amount.”

Technicolor’s head-end business offers a variety of video compression and content processing solutions. It has 525 employees and operates in 15 countries. In 2009 the head-end business recorded revenues of €61m, which Technicolor says was 16% of the total Grass Valley perimeter revenues and 20% of its operating loss.

 

 

Key Elements of the Deal

  • The scope of the offer includes all assets and employees of the head-end business. This comprises the entire product portfolio, including video encoders/decoders, MPEG processors, video servers, datacasters, network management, monitoring and switching product lines. The offer also comprises sales and customer services functions as well as the management and support functions.
    The FCDE will also enter a trademark agreement with Technicolor for the use of the Thomson trademark
  • The offer values the Head-end business for a non-material amount
  • Based on the book value of the assets, the Group expects to register a non-cash loss for this disposal

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Related Content:

Press Release: Technicolor completes the disposal of Grass Valley Head-end business to the FCDE

Technicolor Receives Binding Offer for Video Head-End Business

Press release: Technicolor completes disposal of Grass Valley transmission business

Technicolor decides not to sell digital signage provider PRN

Technicolor completes sale of Grass Valley to Francisco Partners

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Harris Broadcast Communications Profitable in Q3 as Revenue Increases Nine Percent

broadcast industry technology trends, Broadcast technology vendor financials, Quarterly Results | Posted by Joe Zaller
May 03 2011

Harris Corporation announced its results for the third quarter of its fiscal year.

On an overall basis, the company’s revenue was $1.41Bn, an increase of 6% versus the same period a year ago.  However the company’s profit fell by almost 16%.

Harris Corporation’s full results are covered elsewhere.  This post looks specifically at the results of the company’s broadcast communications business.

This is the first quarter since Harris strategically realigned its business segments, and rolled the broadcast communications business into a newly created “Integrated Network Solutions” (ISN) business unit.

Now that Harris broadcast communications business is part of ISN, its performance in the sector is somewhat more opaque than in the past, with only top level numbers disclosed by the company.

Broadcast Communications revenue was $134.1m, an increase of 9% versus the same period a year ago, (when the company posted an operating loss of $5m on revenue of $123m), and an increase of 3% versus the previous quarter.

On the company’s conference call with equity analysts, Harris Corporation CEO Howard Lance called the performance of the broadcast business a “significant year-over-year improvement.” Lance went on to say that the Harris broadcast business turned a profit during the quarter and was still on track to achieve break even performance for the full year.

In guidance issued last quarter, Lance said that the Harris expects its broadcast division to break-even on full year revenue in region of $520m – $540m, a 7-11% revenue increase versus the actual results during the previous fiscal year.

Harris broadcast received several major orders during the quarter, including a $9m contract from a central-Asian broadcaster, and a digital-out-of-home / IPTV deal with Madison Square Garden in New York that will commence this summer and be completed in time for the 2013-13 season. The company also received orders during the quarter from Gray Television, Cox Broadcasting and CBS.

The Harris broadcast business accounted for 29% of the ISN division’s $463m revenue. The ISN business unit’s revenue increased 23% year-over-year, however most of this growth came via acquisition.  On an organic basis, ISN revenue was flat year-over-year.
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Related Content:

Harris Press Release: Harris Corporation Reports Fiscal 2011 Third Quarter Results

Transcript of Harris Q3 conference call with equity analysts

Harris Says Broadcast Communications Business Improved Significantly in Q2

Harris Corporation Strategically Realigns Business Segments; Broadcast Communications Rolled into
New “Integrated Network Solutions” Unit

Harris Broadcast Business Making a Comeback Thanks to Improved Market Condition and New Opportunities in Digital-Out-of-Home

Harris Q3 2010 Results for Broadcast Communications Division

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