PRISA strengthens its capital and further advances its digital transformation

PRISA has strengthened its capital, taken on new technology partners and is preparing for its digital transformation. The Annual General Meeting of the Group, held Saturday, approved a series of equity operations that will allow the company to strengthen its balance sheet, reduce debt and bring in Telefónica as a strategic partner.

Among the agreements, the meeting approved a bond issue aimed at bank creditors to convert part of group debt into shares for EUR 334 million, a deal guaranteed by HSBC, Banco Santander and Caixabank.

Shareholders also gave the green light to the issue of a second tranche of the bonds worth 100 million euros, with Telefónica committed to subscribing in full and in cash.

Another of the agreements allows changes to the payment of the minimum dividend on preferred Class B non-voting shares, foreseeing the possibility of paying the dividend in cash, Class A shares, or a combination of both, to be decided by the company. If it is paid in shares (fully or partially), the price will be of 1.00 Euro/share, the rate to be applied for 2011.

The CEO, noted that these capital operations "are part of a determination to permanently stabilize the balance of the group." He added that these will be complemented by improvements in efficiency and asset sales. In this regard, even though  the economic situation might not be the most favorable, he announced that the group is "studying the potential prices, fiscal conditions and possible  buyers, which could justify the sale of any one of our assets ".

Deputy CEO and CFO, Fernando Abril-Martorell, stressed the fundamental importance of the operations proposed  by the Board explaining that they’d reduce the debt by 650 million euros in 2014 compared to what it would be without them. He said that they illustrate the support of main creditors and that they’ll alleviate the liquidity situation in the short term.

Cebrian stressed the operational strength of PRISA, which achieved turnover of more than 2,700 million in 2011 and recurring Ebitda of almost 500 million, despite the economic crisis which has prompted plummeting advertising revenues and a credit crunch..

 He also noted that the "crisis affecting the press is not temporary," and does not affect "solely nor primarily"  the Group. Faced with this situation, he made it clear that "the digital transformation is a top priority for our company", to which it is devoting its best teams and a considerable amount of investment. He noted that while Internet revenues currently account for barely 3% of total turnover, in 2015 this figure will rise to between 15% and 20%.

Further information at https://www.prisa.com/es/datos/juntas-generales/