Nielsen Reports 1% Drop in Revenue during 'Steady' Quarter

Nielsen's group revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2009 were down 1% to $1.25bn from the same period last year. CFO Brian West described the quarter as having been 'steady'.

Operating loss for Q3 2009 was $393m compared with operating income of $124m for the three months ended September 30, 2008.

For the first nine months of the year, revenues dropped 4% to $3.61bn compared with the same period last year. Operating loss for the same period was $100m, compared with operating income of $408m last year.

In Q3, revenue generated from consumer services research declined 3.8% to $683m, but was up 2.4% on a constant currency basis.

Sales of the firm's analytics services increased 10% during the quarter and West described the BASES business as 'the encouraging sign of the quarter'.

While revenues were flat in Europe, in North America sales of consumer services research were up 2.5% on a constant currency basis. West said that growth had also been seen in the developing markets of Asia Pacific, India, China and Latin America.

During the quarter, Nielsen took a $582m non-cash impairment charge to bolster declining revenues in its media segment, and to offset the costs associated with acquisitions made in 2007; particularly those relating to its three screen initiative, which it recently said remains central to its strategy.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .