Meredith Corp
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MEREDITH CORP FORM 8-K (Unscheduled Material Events) Filed 3/1/2005 For Period Ending 3/1/2005 Address 1716 LOCUST ST DES MOINES, Iowa 50309 Telephone 515-284-3000 CIK 0000065011 Industry Printing & Publishing Sector Services Fiscal Year 06/30 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 1, 2005 Commission file number: 1-5128 MEREDITH CORPORATION (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) IOWA 42-0410230 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) incorporation or organization) 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309-3023 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 515-284-3000 Item 8.01. Other Events Meredith Corporation presented at the Bear Stearns 18th Annual Media Conference on March 1, 2005. Chief Operating Officer Stephen M. Lacy discussed company developments and then he and Chief Financial Officer Suku V. Radia responded to questions. The text of the presentation is attached as an exhibit. A live webcast of the conference is accessible to the public on the Company's website, meredith.com . The webcast will remain there through March 8, 2005. Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits (c) Exhibits 99 Text of presentation at Bear Stearns 18th Annual Media Conference on March 1, 2005. SIGNATURE Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. MEREDITH CORPORATION Registrant /s/ Suku V. Radia Suku V. Radia Vice President - Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) Date: March 1, 2005 Index to Exhibits Exhibit Number Item 99 Text of presentation at Bear Stearns 18th Annual Media Conference on March 1, 2005. E-1 Slide 1 Steve Lacy Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here today. I thank Michael Meltz and Victor Miller for inviting us. With me is Suku Radia, our CFO. I'll provide you with a brief overview of our businesses and then we'll be happy to take your questions. Slide 2 This presentation contains forward-looking statements. I won't read the text of this slide, but it is important to remind you there are a number of factors that may affect our business and results. This presentation includes references to non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA. Financial statements and tables that reconcile GAAP results and non-GAAP measures are posted on our web site. Slide 3 For those of you who may not be familiar with Meredith, we have served the needs of American families for 103 years through service journalism. Each month we reach 75 million American consumers through our magazines, books, custom publications, web sites and television stations. Slide 4 I'll start by briefly reviewing our three overall business strategies. First, we are committed to continuing our strong track record of organic growth in our existing businesses. Second, we will pursue targeted acquisitions to fill gaps and expand our reach. These acquisitions will have readily apparent business logic; they will be manageable in size; and they will be either immediately or quickly accretive. American Baby, which we acquired two years ago, is a good example in Publishing and the WB affiliates in Chattanooga and Kansas City acquired recently reflect this strategy in Broadcasting. Third, we will grow shareholder value and return excess cash to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases as appropriate. In January, the Board increased the dividend 17 percent and authorized 2 million additional shares as part of our repurchase program. Slide 5 In the past few years, Meredith has produced excellent earnings growth. Fiscal 2003 earnings per share increased 35 percent and fiscal 2004 earnings per share rose 24 percent to a record $2.00. On our late January conference call, we indicated fiscal 2005 earnings per share would approximate $2.50, which would equate to a 28 percent compound annual growth rate over this time period. Slide 6 We will continue to deliver strong earnings growth. Let me restate the long-term financial targets that we have enumerated during the last two years. Broadcasting should improve its EBITDA margin to 40 percent over time. The group improved its margin from 23 percent in fiscal 2002 to 32 percent in fiscal 2004 and we are making good gains in fiscal 2005. Publishing should increase its operating profit margin to 20 percent. The group improved its margin from 16 percent in fiscal 2002 to 18 percent in fiscal 2004. We have a high level of confidence that we will meet or exceed the objective. We believe earnings per share should grow at least in the mid-to-high teens in political years and in the low double digits in non- political years. In the past few years, we have grown earnings per share ahead of these targets and we are confident in our ability to achieve these objectives. Slide 7 We recognize the value in our shares. This slide highlights the forward PE and EBITDA multiple for our stock as of the beginning of March for the last four years. As you can see, we are trading currently at the lowest multiple during this time period. Not only do we recognize the value in our shares, we have acted on this belief. To date in fiscal 2005, we have repurchased 1.5 million shares as part of our repurchase plan, compared with 750,000 in all of fiscal 2004 . Slide 8 The Publishing Group has been a core strength of Meredith for more than 100 years. We publish 18 subscription magazines, led by Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies' Home Journal . Our mid-size magazines, which include More, Country Home , Traditional Home and Midwest Living, are very successful. The American Baby Group extends our magazine portfolio to younger women and the growing Hispanic population. We also have a line-up of 150 special interest publications, approximately 350 books, and custom publishing relationships with some of America's leading companies, including The Home Depot, DIRECTV and Chrysler. Also, we have a significant Internet presence with 26 web sites. Slide 9 Here is a look at Publishing's growth strategies. We'll continue to grow our existing businesses by increasing our advertising market share, expanding advertising categories, increasing the rate base and frequency of our mid-size titles, and growing our circulation profits. We will broaden our magazine portfolio through acquisitions and launches. We will expand our brand franchises. We will create new services and revenue streams. Slide 10 Looking at PIB data, you can see Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies' Home Journal have increased their combined market share of the women's service field about a point per year in the past decade. Slide 11 As we have said on many occasions, we are working to broaden our portfolio to serve younger readers and the rapidly growing Hispanic market. According to the Census Bureau, one in five new homeowners in the next decade will be Hispanic. The Hispanic market currently represents $600 billion in spending power and is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2010. Recently, we announced that we will launch a new business to serve the Hispanic market. Essentially the business will be centered on two broad initiatives: The first is a lifestyle and shelter magazine for Hispanic women that will be titled Siempre Mujer. It will premier in the fall of 2005 on a bi-monthly basis with an initial rate base of 350,000. In addition to our 75 million name database and our newsstand distribution network with approximately 600,000 checkout pockets, we will extend our marketing alliance with Home Interiors and Gifts to increase circulation of the magazine. The Home Interiors' sales force has a strong presence in the Southwest and includes 30,000 Hispanic members, who will sell subscriptions to the magazine directly to Hispanic women. The second broad initiative is a marketing services business that will leverage our integrated marketing, custom publishing and database marketing expertise. Regarding this second initiative, Procter & Gamble recently engaged Meredith to produce custom content and design for direct-to-consumer marketing materials sent to specific P&G segments. The first is the Hispanic segment. We know our core competencies in home décor, family advice and child rearing are highly relevant to Hispanic women. Our new business venture will be a powerful tool to expand our presence in this significant market. Slide 12 In addition to our powerful magazines, we operate businesses that generate revenues from sources other than advertising or circulation. In the first half of fiscal 2005, revenues from sources other than advertising or circulation represented 26 percent of total Publishing revenue, up from 24 percent in the first half of fiscal 2004. Integrated Marketing, our custom publishing operation, produced excellent results in fiscal 2004 and the first half of fiscal 2005. Larger programs included the monthly program guide for DIRECTV and customer loyalty magazines for Chrysler, Nestlé and Carnival Cruise lines. Additionally, we are leveraging our consumer database to provide more comprehensive services for clients. For Hyundai, we are providing traditional customer and dealer loyalty programs, as well as hosting Hyundai's database on our systems, supplementing its records with data from our files to help target, serve and retain customers more effectively. We expect to add more clients and expand existing relationships as a result of our database marketing expertise. In our book business, we shipped nearly 650,000 units of the 75 th Anniversary edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book in the first half of fiscal 2005.