Nielsen Revenue Slips Slightly, Profit Climbs

Nielsen has announced revenues of $1,563m for the third quarter of 2020, down 3.3% year-on-year on a reported basis, and 3.0% at constant currency. Adjusted EBITDA was $501m, equivalent to a 6.1% rise at constant currency.

The Nielsen Global Media division, which will remain as a public company next year, saw revenue down to $836m, a decrease of 4.2% at constant currency. Within this, Audience Measurement was down 1.6%, while Plan / Optimize fell 10.8%, primarily reflecting the continued impact of Covid on 'sports, Gracenote auto and short-cycle revenue', the firm said.

Revenue at Nielsen Global Connect - which as of this weekend is being sold to private equity investor Advent and from next year will be known as NielsenIQ - were $727m, down 1.6% on a constant currency basis. Within this, Measure revenues were down 0.6% (constant currency), while Predict / Activate fell 4.2%, reflecting in particular Covid's impact on custom insights, partially offset by the January 2020 acquisition of Precima.

CEO David Kenny (pictured) said of the figures: 'We delivered strong results in the third quarter, building on our track record of successful execution. All key metrics for both Media and Connect were in-line or ahead of expectations. Our teams moved swiftly to enact our optimization plan, driving operational efficiencies and permanent cost savings. This, in addition to actions taken earlier in the year in response to Covid-19 related revenue pressure, enabled us to drive strong adjusted EBITDA growth and higher free cash flow'. Kenny says the quarter has seen 'strong progress on key initiatives... particularly cross-media measurement with expansion of our Connected TV footprint to now include YouTube and YouTubeTV'.

As of September 30th Nielsen had gross debt of $10.01bn and net debt of $7.76 bn.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .