Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Operational and financial highlights for the first quarter 2020 compared to the first quarter 2019:

TV advertising revenues decreased 4% at actual rates and 1% at constant rates.
Carriage fees and subscription revenues increased 7% at actual rates and 11% at constant rates.
Costs charged in arriving at OIBDA decreased 2% at actual rates, but increased 2% at constant rates.
The OIBDA margin remained constant at approximately 26%.
Cash generated from operating activities increased 21% at actual rates to US$ 115.9 million.
Unlevered free cash flow increased 20% at actual rates to US$ 113.9 million.
The net leverage ratio was 2.2x at the end of March, down from 2.4x at the start of 2020.
Finished the quarter with cash of US$ 140.3 million and total liquidity available of US$ 215.3 million.

“On October 27, 2019, we entered into a merger agreement with an affiliate of PPF Group N.V. ("PPF"). The closing of the proposed merger is subject to several conditions, including, but not limited to, the requisite vote of the Company’s shareholders in favor of the transaction and receipt of certain competition and other regulatory approvals. A special general meeting of shareholders of the Company was held on February 27, 2020, where more than 99% of the votes cast by shareholders were in favor of approving the merger agreement, the related statutory merger agreement and the merger transaction. In addition, regulatory approvals required under the merger agreement in Romania and Slovenia have been obtained. For additional information on the merger, please see the proxy statement of the Company related to the special general meeting of shareholders, filed with the SEC on January 10, 2020. PPF is currently planning on filing the required notification to the European Commission in the second quarter, and we expect the proposed merger to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.

Due to the pending proposed merger with PPF, we will not hold a conference call for investors in connection with the issuance of this earnings release,” the company said.

In a joint statement, Michael Del Nin and Christoph Mainusch, Co-Chief Executive Officers, said, "Our businesses enjoyed a strong start to the year, although economic uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reductions in spending overall by advertisers in March, which has continued into April and is expected to negatively impact our financial performance in the second quarter. We have rapidly implemented adjustments to our cost base to mitigate this decline in advertising, and we have the ability to make further adjustments if necessary. After one of our strongest ever quarters in terms of cash generation, and with a strong balance sheet that has benefited from significant deleveraging over the past several years, we are well positioned to respond to the uncertainty created by the pandemic."