OREANDA-NEWS. On 02 September 2009 Rambler Media Limited (RMG.LN), (“Rambler” or the “Group”), operating one of Russia’s most popular internet brands, announced its condensed consolidated unaudited financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the six months ended 30 June 2009.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS*

•    Consolidated total revenue down 18% year-on-year to RUR* 1,019 million (USD  30.8 million) (1H 2008, RUR 1,236 million / USD  51.7 million) due to macroeconomic turmoil and weak advertising demand in the period

•    Full year revenue projections down around 15% from 2008 revenue in Roubles

•    Consolidated display / banner advertising revenue down 12% to RUR 432 million (USD  13.1 million) (1H 2008, RUR 490 million / USD  20.5 million)

•    Consolidated contextual revenue down 24% to RUR 419 million (USD 12.7 million) (1H 2008, RUR 554 million / USD  23.2 million)

•    Consolidated listings revenue down 15% to RUR 60 million (USD 1.8 million) (1H 2008, RUR 71 million / USD  2.9 million)

•    Consolidated EBITDA down 60% to RUR 85 million (USD  2.6 million) (1H 2008, RUR 214 million / USD  8.9 million) with an EBITDA margin of 8.4% (1H 2008, 17.3%) due to adverse macroeconomic conditions since Q4 2008 and including one-off provisions for legal claims for RUR 19 million

•    Consolidated net loss after interest and tax of RUR 68 million (USD  2.1 million) (1H 2008, RUR 11 million loss / USD  0.5 million loss) including a RUR 70 mln amortization charge due the reclassification of Begun (no longer classified as an asset held for sale)

•    CAPEX was RUR 19 million (USD  0.6 million) (1H 2008, RUR 65 million / USD  2.7 million)

•    Strong balance sheet with cash position of RUR 772 million (USD  24.7 million) and zero debt as at 30 June 2009. RUR 160 mln cash out in 1H due to payments for 2007-2008 expenses (sales and marketing and legal costs associated with Google deal)

* To align the reporting currency with the predominant functional currency of the Group and simplify comparative performance analysis, the Group has decided to report both in Russian rouble and in US dollar. The USD/RUR exchange rate at the end of June 2009 was 31.29 and the average rate for the first half of 2009 was 33.07, the USD/RUR exchange rate at the end of June 2008 was 23.46 and the average rate for the first half of 2008 was 23.94.

Olga Turischeva, Chief Executive Officer of Rambler Media, commented:

“During the first half of 2009, the operating environment was particularly challenging for Rambler due to low business confidence, decreasing GDP and production in Russia and a prevailing lack of visibility which limited advertising spend across all sectors, as was the case in the last recession of 1998. While we are seeing early signs of stabilisation in the economy, including the stabilisation of the USD/RUR exchange rate, a recovery in the oil price and a rebound in the stock markets, we remain cautious on the outlook for the rest of the year and we now expect our full year revenue to be down around 15% year-on-year in 2009 in Rouble terms.

“Despite unfavourable market conditions, the internet continues to offer the strongest growth opportunities in the media sector. Online advertising has proven to be an extremely efficient way to reach Russian consumers offering a targeted and interactive approach. As a top internet brand in Russia, Rambler will continue to benefit from the growing internet penetration among Russian consumers, prolonged time spent online and greater overall involvement in internet activities. The traditional mix of media consumption is tangibly shifting towards the internet and thus the media mix in advertising campaigns is changing in favour of online advertising.

“Since joining Rambler in April, my objective has been to secure profitable growth for the group by revising our offering in the Russian internet landscape in order to increase our share of user reach and capture more advertising revenue. Our focus is to reverse the recent negative trends that have affected Rambler. What is obvious is that we need to reconsider the balance of our product portfolio, bearing in mind the needs of more active users spending increasingly more time online. Reallocating more effort to such services as communications and navigation is crucial. It is the key need of every online user and forms the core of our strategy to create an active and loyal audience. Although we remain committed to containing costs during this tough environment, I believe that we also need to continue to invest in innovation and to encourage new ideas and new projects that will attract new users to Rambler. My long term vision is to transform Rambler into an incubator of ideas and start ups – and our strong financial position means that we are well prepared to implement this strategy even in tough macroeconomic conditions. We intend to attract more talented young people to Rambler, and a new team is being formed now through which we plan to reinvigorate our corporate culture and revive our market leadership.”

Rambler User Statistics

•    16.2 millon new monthly unique users at Rambler (June ‘09 vs. ’08, Rambler statistics). Rambler reaching 51% monthly Runet users accordning to TNS

•     3.1 billion monthly page views on average in 1H 2009, up 17% year-on-year (2.96 billion in June 2009 vs. 2.45 billion in June 2008 representing a 10% increase).

•     Total search queries amounted to 1.15 billion in 1H 2009

•     60.8 million registered email accounts

Russian Internet / Advertising Market

•     Russian internet penetration up 15% year-on-year in 1H 2009 to 37.5 million users. Internet penetration of 33%, still far behind mature markets (source: Public Opinion Foundation).

•     Russian advertising forecast to be down as much as 24% year-on-year in 2009 to RUR 202 million (2008, RUB 267 million) (source: ZenithOptimedia).

•     Demand in internet advertising forecast to be the most resilient of all media segments (growth of 0 to 12% in 2009 according to Zenith Optimedia) demonstrating that internet offers the strongest opportunities for growth in the media sector.

•     Media mix changing in favor of online: 5.8% of ad market in ‘08 vs 7.5% expected in ’09

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

 

RUR million

 

USD ’000s

RUR million

USD ’000s

 

Jan – Jun 2009

Jan – Jun 2008

Jan – Jun 2009

Jan – Jun 2008

Jan – Dec 2008

Jan – Dec 2008

Group Revenue

Rambler Media excl. B egun Begun’s partner network

Investment income

 

1,019

723

296

-

1,236

846

390

-

30,812

21,870 8,942

-

51,704

35,409

16,295

-

2,737

1,939

798

3

110,033

77,948

32,085

106

Total revenue and investment income

 

1,019

1,236

30,812

51,704

2,740

110,139

EBITDA*

85

214

2,574

8,931

402

16,150

EBITDA margin**

8.4 %

17.3%

8.4 %

17.3%

14.7%

14.7%

Operating (loss) / profit

(98)

(23)

(2,975)

(969)

95

3,804

Net (loss) / profit attributable to equity holders of the Group (Loss) / earnings per share from continuing operations – basic (RUR/USD  per share)

(23)

(1.49)

18 1.17

(689)

(0.045)

756 0.049

77 5.00

3,570 0.232

(Loss) / earnings per share from continuing operations – diluted (RUR/USD  per share)

(1.49)

1.17

(0.045)

0.049

5.00

0.232

* Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisatio ** Total EBITDA divided by total revenue.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this half-yearly report are forward-looking. Although the Group believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct. Because these statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.