Nielsen Reports Q1 Downside

Nielsen Holdings has  announced its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The company also updated its 2020 guidance to reflect its most recent expectations, incorporating the estimated impact of COVID-19.

Additionally, the Company announced that it remains focused on and committed to the planned separation of Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect, with the spin-off transaction now expected to close in early 2021 largely due to temporary shutdowns of government agencies that are necessary to move forward with the separation.

David Kenney

David Kenny, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "During this unprecedented time, our employees have demonstrated tremendous focus, agility and perseverance, partnering closely with clients to provide the measurement and analytics data that is so critical to clients' businesses. Our teams have moved quickly to innovate around new ways of collecting and delivering data that is essential to our clients.  Moving forward, we will leverage these new learnings to drive permanent process improvement and efficiency."

"We delivered solid results in the first quarter, but we saw slowing momentum in Connect as the quarter progressed. This trend continued into April, with increased pressure in both Media and Connect primarily in non-contracted revenue. We quickly implemented cost actions in the first quarter to mitigate the impact, and we are taking additional actions to protect profits and cash flow amidst ongoing economic uncertainty as we plan for a range of scenarios. We remain well-capitalized and are closely managing cash flow and our balance sheet. Our cost actions allow us to continue investing in the key strategic priorities that will drive our long-term growth."

First Quarter 2020 Results

• Revenues were $1,559 million, down 0.3% on a reported basis, or up 1.5% on a constant currency basis, compared to the prior year.
• Nielsen Global Media revenues increased 1.9% to $842 million on a reported basis, or 2.6% on a constant currency basis, compared to the prior year.
• Audience Measurement revenues of $615 million increased 1.7% on a reported basis, or 2.2% on a constant currency basis, primarily due to continued client adoption of Total Audience Measurement and growth in audio which was timing driven, partly offset by pressure in local television measurement.
• Nielsen Global Connect revenues of $717 million decreased 2.7% on a reported basis, or an increase of 0.3% on a constant currency basis, compared to the prior year. Net loss for the first quarter was $18 million, compared to net income of $43 million in the first quarter of 2019.