Solid First Quarter Revenue Rise for Nielsen

Nielsen has reported first quarter revenue of $877m - a rise of 1.6%, but with organic real-terms growth of 3.4%. Adjusted EBITDA fell around 4% to $372m.

Net income fell to $105m from $573m, which the firm says reflects the sale of its Global Connect business for $2.7 billion last year: the latter is now known as NielsenIQ.

On a reported basis Measurement revenues rose 2.1% to $645m and Impact / Content revenues grew 0.4% to $232m. The firm said that Measurement growth was driven by strength in national and digital measurement products in the US and in international markets, while local products grew modestly for the fourth consecutive quarter.

CEO David Kenny (pictured) comments: 'Nielsen is leading the industry into the next generation of audience measurement with Nielsen ONE, our transformative cross-media solution that will serve as the metrics underpinning the more than $100 billion video advertising ecosystem. We remain confident that Nielsen is uniquely positioned to provide the global media industry with a currency-grade, cross-platform measurement solution that aligns with clients' evolving needs'.

At the end of March, Nielsen entered an agreement to be acquired by a private equity consortium, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $16bn: however shareholder WindAcre quickly said it would block the sale agreement, and continues to argue the firm is worth far more, while buying up stock - it now has some 27.3% of the company.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .