NDS buys CastUp, as fiscal year profit and revenue rise

The company's first acquisition of its new fiscal year is a video over internet firm.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS; ASX: NCP, NCPDP) Israeli subsidiary NDS Group plc (Nasdaq: NNDS) last night published its financial report for its 2007 fiscal year, which ended in June, and announced the acquisition of Israeli start-up CastUp Inc..

The company posted $709.5 million revenue for the fiscal year, up 18% on the 2006 fiscal year, which ended in June 2006. The company noted that half its revenue is denominated in currencies, and that it lost $26 million during the fiscal year because of the weak US dollar. Revenue from new technologies rose 35% thanks to higher revenue from DVR technologies and middleware, gaming applications and residential gateway devices.

NDS posted a net profit of $135.7 million ($2.37 per share) for its 2007 fiscal year, up 35% from $101 million ($1.80 per share) for its 2006 fiscal year. The company beat the analysts’ consensus of $2.19 earnings per share.

The company had $592.8 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end June, which the company said it planned to use for business development and acquisition. No dividends are planned. The company spent $83.2 million on acquisitions during the 2007 fiscal year.

NDS also announced its first acquisition of the new fiscal year: video over internet provider CastUp for $11.3 million in cash, plus additional payments to employees and senior management. NDS expects to close the deal the first financial quarter of 2008.

CastUp provides an end to end solution for the acquisition, processing, distributing, serving and monetizing of rich media content over IP, particularly video and audio over the internet. The company’s customers include Israeli TV and media companies and Israeli subsidiaries of Hewlett Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ), Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX), MTV and Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI). NDS added that CastUp is profitable and growing and that it will provide NDS with substantial know-how and experience in online video delivery, help current pay TV customers expand their broadband video distribution services, attract new potential customers, and develop new enhanced services and applications for broadband enabled set-top boxes.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 7, 2007

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007

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