Arbitron revenues up but impeding takeover hampers earnings

In its Q1 financial results, Arbitron reported a 5.1% rise in revenue to $111.8m compared with $106.4m in the first quarter of 2012.

However, the impeding takeover by Nielsen has dented earnings as earnings before interest and income tax (EBIT) were down in the first quarter of 2013 at $28m compared with $28.9m in Q1 2012 while the earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was also down at $34.7m compared with $36.6m in 2012.

According to Arbitron, without the cost of the Nielsen deal, EBIT would have been $31.2m – an increase of $2.4m on Q1 2012 – while EBITDA would have been $37.9m, a 3.6% increase year-on-year.

On 16 April 2013, Arbitron’s shareholders voted to approve the $1.26bn acquisition by Nielsen.

Sean Creamer, Arbitron CEO and president said: “In the first quarter, we continued to pursue our long-standing objectives: maintaining our investments in the quality of our radio ratings services. Growing our core revenue, and entering new markets such as digital radio, cross-platform and mobile.”