RBC releases financial and operating results for Q3 and 9M 2013

Moscow, November 18, 2013 - RBC OJSC (Moscow Exchange: RBCM) hereby releases unaudited preliminary financial results and discloses operating performance for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2013.

"In the third quarter, RBC's advertising revenue in the Internet segment rose at the same rate as the Russian display Internet advertising segment , and at a higher than market average growth rate in the TV and business press segments. EBITDA declined compared to the year-earlier period due to the timing difference between this and last year in terms of expenses incurred, as well as the restructuring of the entertainment Internet division.

During the reporting period, an agreement to sell Salon Press Publishing House was concluded with Burda Publishing House. Therefore, in line with our plans we are focusing primarily on the expansion of media products under the RBC brand," RBC CEO Derk Sauer said .

The company's financial results in Q3 and 9M 2013 [2]

Million rubles

Q3

2013

Q3

2012

Change

9M

2013

9 M

2012

Change

Revenue

1 , 244

1 , 110

12%

3 , 730

3 , 306

13%

Internet

582

526

11%

1,731

1,760

-2%

Advertising

489

431

13%

1,456

1,481

-2%

Services

93

95

-2%

275

279

-1%

Domains & hosting

354

324

9%

1,095

759

44%

Television

224

178

26%

646

541

19%

Business press

84

82

2%

258

246

5%

Operating expenses

1,336

1,063

26%

3 , 794

3 , 296

15%

EBITDA

-92

47

-

-64

10

-

Internet.Revenue from RBC's Internet division rose 11% to RUB 582m in the third quarter of 2013 due to high demand for key advertising positions on business Internet resources. In addition to that, RBC continued the realization of creative advertising campaigns (special projects) in cooperation with large advertising clients on its business Internet platforms. Lower revenue from services in the third quarter as compared to last year is attributable to the restructuring of RBC's non-business Internet. In line with this process, some projects are being prepared for sale or partner integration for their further development, while the management structure of this business unit is being optimized. In the first nine months of the year, RBC's revenue in the Internet segment stood at RUB 1.7bn.

During the reporting period, RBC continued to fine-tune business Internet projects and sections within Rbc.ru portal, as well as their mobile applications. New local versions of Rbc.ru portal were launched in Krasnodar, Ufa, Perm and Novosibirsk.

In September, RBC opened a new press center complex located in its headquarters. The complex comprises two halls with cutting-edge multimedia equipment. The press center can host events of different formats, with television and online broadcasting, including television link-ups and live stand-ups from federal TV channels.

RBC's aggregate audience totaled 44.4m unique users in September .

Domains and hosting. Hosting Community Group saw its revenue climb 9% to RUB 354m in the third quarter on the strength of organic growth in income generated from its services. In January-September 2013, RBC's revenue from domain name registration and hosting services surged 44% to RUB 1.095bn.

During the reporting period, Hosting Community completed the takeover of domain name registrar Reggi Business LLC, which provides services under the Reggi.ru brand. The company became the third registrar accredited by ICANN and the sixth hosting services provider in Hosting Community Group. The new asset will enable Hosting Community to expand into related market niches and enable its customers to choose a style of service, cost and quality of technical solutions which is more suitable for them.

RU-CENTER continued expanding its network of branches in Russia and abroad in the third quarter. Specifically, it rolled out representative offices in Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Petrozavodsk, and Tokyo (Japan).

Television. RBC channel's revenue advanced 26% to RUB 224m in the third quarter on the back of a 4% rise in the sell-out ratio and higher income from special projects. In the first nine months of 2013, RBC channel's revenue rose 19% to RUB 646m.

In the third quarter, RBC channel became the general partner and official broadcaster of the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics. Additionally, the programming grid was expanded by new series of programs such as "Dynasties" (which tells the audience about people who changed the economic landscape of Russia before the 1917 revolution), "City" (a forum for businesspeople, government officials and Moscow residents), "The Planet of Beauty" (reports about tendencies in organic cosmetics production).The weekday programming grid was modified, and weekend programming grid was completely revamped with more entertainment content added.

As of the end of September, RBC television channel's monthly audience in Russia stood at 20.4m viewers, up 4% year-on-year, while its daily audience rose 9% to 2.7m viewers.

Business press. Revenue from RBC's business printed publications amounted to RUB 84m in the third quarter, up 2% year-on-year. The upturn in revenue is mainly attributable to higher budgets of advertisers in luxury and real estate segments against the backdrop of strengthening audience ratings. In the first nine months of 2013, revenue from RBC's business press amounted to RUB 258m, rising 5% year-on-year.

Average issue readership (AIR) of RBC daily , up 31% year-on-year, while the Russian audience of its online version (Rbcdaily.ru) reached 257,500 readers in September 2013, up 19% year-on-year. As a result, RBC daily firmed up its positions as the second-largest printed business daily and the largest online business newspaper in terms of audience. RBC magazine's AIR in Moscow increased 20% year-on-year to 386,400 readers, which confirms its status as the leading business magazine in the capital. The magazine's audience in Russia totaled 1.1m, up 18% year-on-year.


Advertising volumes of the Russian media market's segments in Q3 were calculated based on AKAR data.

Management accounts, not including the financial results of RBK Money payment system (sold in 2012) and Salon-Press publishing house.

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