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RSSAssociated Press
By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES--Univision Communications Inc. said first-quarter profits rose 21 percent on increased TV advertising sales and viewership for the Spanish-language broadcaster.
The company, which said in February that it is exploring a sale of all or parts of the company, reported net income of $53.9 million (42.8 million), or 16 cents per share, compared to $44.5 million, or 13 cents per share, a year ago.
The net income figure excludes $2.8 million (2.22 million) in stock-based compensation and $3.9 million (3.1 million) in other charges recognized by the company during the quarter.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $449.8 million (357.21 million) from $433 million in the same quarter last year, the company said Thursday.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 15 cents per share on sales of $456.2 million (362.29 million) in the latest period. The mean forecast does not include option-based expenses.
During a call with Wall Street analysts, Ray Rodriguez, Univision's president and chief operating officer, said growth during the quarter was driven by Univision's television business, cost-cutting and the overall growth in Spanish-language media.
Revenue from Univision's three television networks _ Univision, Galavision and Telefutura _ was $323.2 million (256.67 million), up from $294.2 million in the same quarter in 2005.
Rodriguez noted data from Nielsen's National Television Index that ranked Univision Network fifth in the United States in prime time. He said he expects that advertisers in the coming "up front" period _ when networks show off their fall programming lineup _ will see the Univision as a better media buy.
"Univision has become a tough competitor to ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and regularly beats one of these four English-language networks in prime-time," Rodriguez said. "As the Hispanic population continues to grow in size, we are confident that advertisers will see that reaching Hispanics through Univision Television, radio, music and online assets will be a key to their success."
Revenue for Univision Radio during the quarter was $72.5 million (57.58 million), up slightly from $71.5 million last year.
The company's music recording business saw sales decline 24 percent to $47.2 million (37.48 million), compared to $62.2 million in the year-ago period.
Management attributed the decline in sales to a weaker release schedule during the quarter, saying it has slated the bulk of its releases for the latter half of the year.
Revenue for the broadcaster's Internet portal was $6.9 million (5.48 million), up from $5.1 million last year.
Univision said it expects second-quarter earnings of 31 cents to 32 cents per share, compared with 24 cents last year, including a 14 cents per share adjustment from a loss in the fair value of the company's investment in Entravision Communications Corp.
Excluding the impact of incremental expenses and revenue from the World Cup, the company said it expects second-quarter net revenue growth to be in the low double-digit percentage range.
Univision has traded between $23.52 and $36.08 over the past year.
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