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The Nielsen Company Reports Full Year 2008 Results


WEBWIRE

New York, US - The Nielsen Company B.V., a leading global information and media company, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Reported revenues for the year ended December 31, 2008 were $5,012 million, an increase of 6% over reported revenues for the year ended December 31, 2007 of $4,707 million. Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations*, revenues for the year increased 4.5%.

Reported operating income for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $118 million compared to $416 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. These results were negatively impacted by $552 million and $174 million, respectively, of charges relating to certain items such as goodwill impairment charges, restructuring costs, deal related costs and compensation agreements. Adjusting for these items, operating income, on a constant currency basis*, increased 12.5%.

Covenant earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and other adjustments permitted under our senior secured credit facilities (“Covenant EBITDA”) was $1,343 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. Covenant EBITDA is a non – GAAP measure. See “Covenant EBITDA” below for a reconciliation of Loss from continuing operations of $521 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 to Covenant EBITDA.

As of December 31, 2008, total debt was $8,494 million, and cash balances were $466 million. Capital expenditures were $370 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, compared with $266 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.

Conference Call and Webcast

The Nielsen Company will hold an earnings conference call, hosted by The Nielsen Company’s Chief Financial Officer Brian J. West, at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Friday, March 27, 2009. The call will be audio-webcast live at http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/about/investor_relations and an archive will be available on the website after the call. In addition, a link to the company’s annual financial report on Form 10-K has been posted at http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/about/investor_relations.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release includes information that could constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words such as ‘expect’, ‘should’, ‘could’, ‘shall’ and similar expressions. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and events could differ materially from what presently is expected. Factors leading thereto may include without limitations general economic conditions, conditions in the markets Nielsen is engaged in, behavior of customers, suppliers and competitors, technological developments, as well as legal and regulatory rules affecting Nielsen’s business. This list of factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We assume no obligation to update any written or oral forward-looking statement made by us or on our behalf as a result of new information, future events, or other factors.

NOTE: Additional detail regarding results (tables, etc.), can be found in the PDF download version of this release: http://en-us.nielsen.com/etc/medialib/nielsen_dotcom/en_us/documents/pdf/press_releases/2009/march.Par.59773.File.dat/2008%20Earnings%20Release.pdf

* Constant currency growth rates eliminate the impact of year-over-year foreign currency fluctuations.

About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.



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