Arbitron Q2 Revenues Up 1.8%, Earnings Rise 8.7%

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 2:43pm CT

Arbitron reported second quarter revenue of $88.3 million, up 1.8% from $86.8 million in 2009. Costs and expenses increased by 2.1% to $87.7 million from $85.9 million, due primarily to the continued rollout of the Portable People Meter (PPM). During Q2, Arbitron incurred a one-time expense of $1.5 million relating to its previously announced executive staff realignment.

EBITDA for the quarter grew 6.4% to $12.9 million from EBITDA of $12.2 million. The company posted a net income of $3.8 million (14 cents per diluted share) growth of 8.7% when compared with $3.5 million (13 cents) in the year-ago period.

"In the second quarter, the radio advertising marketplace continued to improve. As the ad economy brightens, we continue to work with customers to help the radio industry take better advantage of the rebound in advertising dollars," said President/CEO William T. Kerr. "Our efforts in the second quarter also yielded significant progress towards our near-term and longer-term goals.

For the full year 2010, Arbitron expects revenue to increase between two percent and six percent compared to the 2009 revenue of $385 million. Earnings per share (diluted) for the full year 2010 are expected to be between $1.50 and $1.75.