Broadcaster CTC Media reported fourth-quarter net profit of $20.9 million against a loss of $89 million a year earlier and said it would pay its first-ever dividends.
The company said revenue in the last three months of 2009 declined on the year to $180.5 million, from $187.3 million, on contraction in the advertising market and the ruble's weakening.
The company said in a statement that it would pay a dividend of $0.065 per ordinary share, or $10 million in all, to be paid in March, as the first installment of an intended total of $40 million in cash dividends for 2010.
OIBDA in the fourth quarter came to $40.1 million, against an OIBDA loss of $136.1 million a year earlier.
For the whole of 2009, CTC's net profit amounted to $100.4 million, nearly fivefold of the $22.5 million earned in 2008. The company's 2009 revenues were down 20.1 percent at $506.1 million last year.
"The pricing environment is currently showing signs of improvement moving forward for later in the year and, while we do not expect to repeat the level of market outperformance that we achieved in 2009, our target audience shares have continued to grow so far in 2010," Anton Kudryashov, the company's chief executive, said in a statement.