First Quarter Results from Arbitron

Arbitron in the USA has announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 showing revenue up by 8.3% and net income up by 13.2%.

For the first quarter 2003, Arbitron reported revenue of $71.4 million, an increase of 8.3% over revenue of $65.9 million during the first quarter of 2002. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the quarter were $29.9 million, compared with EBIT of $27.6 million during the comparable period last year. Net income for the quarter was $16.1 million, compared with $14.2 million for the first quarter of 2002.

Commenting on the results for the first quarter, Stephen Morris, president and chief executive officer of Arbitron, said, 'In the first quarter of 2003, we met our financial goals for revenue and profitability, a gratifying performance during a period in which global events brought a great deal of last minute uncertainty to the media industry. We have worked hard to keep our core services-ratings, Scarborough and software-as valuable, revenue-generating resources for our broadcaster, cable, agency and advertiser customers. In the first quarter, we increased our efforts to train those who work on the buy and sell sides of the media industry. Our continuing goal is to help our subscribers get the maximum value from the dollars they invest in our services'.

'We also strengthened our relationship with Nielsen Media Research, Inc., our potential joint venture partner for commercial deployment of the Portable People Meter (PPM) in the United States,' continued Mr. Morris. 'Last month, Arbitron and Nielsen announced an expansion of our agreement that increases the financial involvement and commitment of resources from Nielsen in a joint research program for the PPM. Already, we are in the field with studies that are designed to further develop the PPM system as a local market ratings service. Even as we work with Nielsen, we are also developing a number of other applications for the Portable People Meter technology that we could implement on our own.'

'In international markets, we continue to make progress marketing the PPM. While the Australian radio industry has deferred a decision regarding electronic measurement, IBOPE, the leading South American media research firm, has just concluded a successful evaluation of the PPM encoding technology in Brazil. Médiamétrie, the leading media research firm in France, has just signed an agreement for a two-year evaluation of the PPM in Paris,' Mr. Morris concluded.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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