Nielsen reported a fourth quarter profits as it prepared to revamp its audience measurement system and sell off a troublesome division.
Net income was $35 million, or 10 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $109 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago.
Revenue fell 1.1% to $1.672 billion.
Nielsen Global Media revenue decreased 1.9% to $872 million. Audience measurement revenue edged up 0.2% to $624 million. Plan/Optimize revenue dropped 6.8% to $248 million.
Nielsen Global Connect revenue decreased 0.2% to $800 million. Nielsen agreed to sell Global Connect to Advent International for $2.7 billion in November.
Nielsen said it expected revenue growth for 2021 to be in the 2% to 3% range, with adjusted earrings per share between $1.43 and $1.54.
“We accelerated progress on our transformation, rationalizing our product portfolio including the planned sale of Global Connect, and aligning our product roadmap around two unique platforms for ads and for content. In December, we announced our plans to launch Nielsen One, a transformative cross-media solution to drive more comparable and comprehensive metrics across platforms. I am extremely proud of all that our teams accomplished during such unprecedented times,” said CEO David Kenny.
"We have now reached an inflection point and we are focused on driving new growth from new solutions and new customers,” Kenny said. “Our 2021 guidance issued today is consistent with the detailed plan we laid out for the New Nielsen at our Investor Day in December, and we are executing as we committed."
