Arbitron: Revenue Increases 5.1% To $111.8 million

Arbitron Inc. Tuesday announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

• Computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), net income for the first quarter was $16.3 million or $0.60 per share (diluted), compared with $17.8 million, or $0.64 per share (diluted), for the first quarter of 2012.
• Costs and expenses in the first quarter 2013 included $3.2 million of consulting, legal, and other expenses related to the pending acquisition of Arbitron by Nielsen Holdings N.V. ("Nielsen")—which impacted net income by $0.12 per share (diluted).
• Excluding the expenses directly related to the pending acquisition, earnings per share (diluted) for the first quarter would have been $0.72 per share (diluted), an increase of 12.5 percent over the first quarter 2012.

Additional Financial Highlights

• For the first quarter of 2013, the Company reported revenue of $111.8 million, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to revenue of $106.4 million during the first quarter of 2012.
• Costs and expenses for the first quarter 2013 were $81.4 million, an increase of $6.2 million or 8.3 percent compared to $75.2 million in the first quarter 2012. In addition to the $3.2 million of expenses related to the pending Nielsen transaction, costs in the quarter increased as a result of planned incremental investments in Arbitron Mobile panels, costs associated with address-based sampling, in-person recruiting, and cell-phone household recruiting.
• EBIT (earnings before interest and income tax expense) for the first quarter 2013 was $28.0 million compared with EBIT of $28.9 million for the first quarter of 2012.
• Excluding the costs for the pending Nielsen transaction, EBIT in the first quarter 2013 would have been $31.2 million, an increase of $2.4 million or 8.2 percent compared to the first quarter 2012, yielding EBIT margins of 27.9 percent as compared to 27.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

Other Matters

On April 16, 2013, Arbitron's shareholders voted to approve the proposed acquisition of Arbitron by Nielsen. The transaction remains subject to certain regulatory approvals, including expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period, and customary closing conditions.

Sean Creamer

Said Sean R. Creamer, President and Chief Executive Officer:

"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.

"Our focus on the quality of our core services helped us achieve Media Rating Council accreditation of four additional Portable People Meter markets in February. Our goal remains achieving or maintaining accreditation in all our syndicated radio markets.

"We continue working to leverage our investment in the PPM technology and consumer panels utilizing our platform in new initiatives such as advertising and promotion effectiveness studies, while enhancing our measurement capabilities for radio and across platforms."

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