UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS
PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(Mark one)
| x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003
| ¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 333-107783
CBD Media LLC
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
| Delaware | 02-0553288 | |
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
| 312 Plum Street, Suite 900 Cincinnati, Ohio |
45202 (Zip Code) | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | ||
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (858) 467-2800
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act
Rule 12b-2). Yes ¨ No x
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None
FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||||
| PART I | ||||
| ITEM 1 |
Business | 1 | ||
| ITEM 2 |
Properties | 13 | ||
| ITEM 3 |
Legal Proceedings | 13 | ||
| ITEM 4 |
Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders | 14 | ||
| PART II | ||||
| ITEM 5 |
Market for Registrants Common Stock and Related Stockholder Matters | 14 | ||
| ITEM 6 |
Selected Financial Data | 14 | ||
| ITEM 7 |
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 15 | ||
| ITEM 7A |
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk | 24 | ||
| ITEM 8 |
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 24 | ||
| ITEM 9 |
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 24 | ||
| ITEM 9A |
Controls and Procedures | 24 | ||
| PART III | ||||
| ITEM 10 |
Directors and Executive Officers of CBD Media LLC | 25 | ||
| ITEM 11 |
Executive Compensation | 26 | ||
| ITEM 12 |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management | 28 | ||
| ITEM 13 |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions | 29 | ||
| ITEM 14 |
Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 31 | ||
| PART IV | ||||
| ITEM 15 |
Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K | 31 | ||
| Signatures | 34 |
As used herein, unless the context otherwise requires:
| | CBD Media, we, us, our or other similar terms refers to the business of CBD Media LLC; |
| | CBD Holdings refers to CBD Media Holdings LLC, the parent of CBD Media LLC; |
| | Cincinnati Bell, Inc. refers to Cincinnati Bell, Inc., which was known as Broadwing Inc. prior to a corporate name change effective May 27, 2003. |
CBD Media
We are the twelfth largest directory publisher in the United States based on 2002 revenue. We are the exclusive directory publisher for Cincinnati Bell branded yellow pages in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area, which is the 23rd largest metropolitan area in the country according to the most recent U.S. Census. We believe our directories captured over 85% share of the 2003 total directory advertising spending in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area. In 2003, we published fourteen yellow pages directories and distributed over 2 million yellow pages directories to businesses and residences. We also offer integrated internet-based directory services to our consumers through the cincinnatibellyellowpages.com web site. In addition, we publish the white pages for Cincinnati Bell Telephone, the incumbent local exchange carrier in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area for over 100 years, for whom we distributed over 1 million copies in 2003. We generate our revenues primarily through the sale of advertising, and in 2003 had over 19,000 local advertising customers consisting primarily of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as approximately 1,100 national advertisers. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2003, our revenue was $86.3 million and we have experienced year-over-year revenue growth since 1993.
We acquired our directory publishing business in March 2002 from Cincinnati Bell, Inc., the owner and operator of Cincinnati Bell Telephone. As a part of this acquisition, we received an exclusive, royalty-free license to use the name Cincinnati Bell Directory to conduct our directory publishing business in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area until March 2022. In addition, Cincinnati Bell, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates are contractually prohibited from competing with us in the directory publication business in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area until March 2012.
The U.S. directory advertising industry has experienced stable and consistent revenue growth, with revenues for the industry increasing over the past twenty years at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 6%. We believe that print directories are, in many cases, the primary forms of advertising used by small and medium-sized businesses and are one of the most resilient forms of advertising in economic downturns. In addition, we believe that the annual publication cycle and the priority placement given to existing advertisers result in high customer retention rates by directory publishers even during poor economic times. During the last two recessions beginning in 1991 and 2001, the U.S. directory advertising industry experienced positive growth in spending, while other major forms of advertising media, including radio, television and newspaper, experienced spending declines.
Competitive Strengths
Dominant local market position. We have superior printed directory usage and possession statistics in the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area. According to a 2003 study prepared for us by the University of Cincinnati, we are the preferred yellow pages directory of 92% of the population of the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area and have residential and business possession rates of 95% and 78%, respectively. We believe these usage statistics are, in part, responsible for our high advertiser satisfaction rates, as well as our average local advertiser retention rate
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of approximately 85% over the last five years, which we believe is the highest in our market and compares favorably to other directories published under the local exchange carrier brand nationwide. We expect that Cincinnati Bell Telephones established market position and strong brand name will allow us to sustain our market share, maintain high usage trends for our directories and attract additional high-quality advertisers in the future.
Powerful brand name. In 2002, we entered into a twenty-year agreement with Cincinnati Bell, Inc. that allows us to use the widely-recognized Cincinnati Bell name to market our directory products. The Cincinnati Bell brand has been in existence for over 100 years and its high regard among our consumers is evidenced by Cincinnati Bell Telephones receipt of the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 and 2002 awards for both Local Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction-Mainstream Users and Residential Long Distance Customer Satisfaction-Mainstream Users, as well as the award for the Highest Overall Satisfaction Among Wireless Telephone Users in Cincinnati in 2002. Cincinnati Bell Telephones local ranking represents J.D. Powers highest award for all local telephone companies in the United States. We believe our strategic relationship with Cincinnati Bell Telephone affords us brand recognition as the incumbent yellow pages provider and gives us a significant competitive advantage compared with directory publishers in our market that are not associated with the Cincinnati Bell brand.
Efficient operating model. We utilize select strategic partners, whom we believe are among the best operators in their respective industries, to provide sales, printing, distribution and billing support under long-term contracts. This business model allows us to realize best-in-industry service and cost efficiencies that directly contribute to our operating and free cash flow margins, which we believe are among the highest in the directory publishing industry. We are able to leverage our partners expertise and national experience, thereby minimizing ongoing capital expenditures and allowing our management to concentrate its focus on the strategic management of our business. We also believe that we are a significant customer of each of our key partners, which we believe enhances the quality of services that we receive.
Strong financial profile. Our business has been characterized by consistent revenue growth and high operating margins. Our revenue has increased each year since 1993, from approximately $58.7 million in 1993 to approximately $86.3 million in 2003, resulting in a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 4%. The stability of our financial results is driven by (i) our directory advertising sales, which are presold through one-year contracts typically paid on a monthly basis; (ii) our collection rate during the year ended December 31, 2003 of approximately 95% of gross accounts receivable, which we believe compares favorably to the collection rates of both other directories published under the local exchange carrier brand and independent directory publishers; (iii) our high advertising retention rates from existing customers, which have averaged approximately 85% over the last five years; and (iv) the fact that 85% of our operating expenses are tied to contracts with strategic partners and tend to be correlated with our revenue.
Favorable cash flow characteristics. Our business has strong cash flow characteristics due to the combination of our consistent revenue, strong operating margins, high collection rates, low capital expenditures, minimal working capital requirements, limited corporate overhead and a favorable tax position resulting from our acquisition from Cincinnati Bell, Inc. in 2002. The timing of our cash inflows throughout the year is also predictable, as our customers typically pay for their advertisements in our directories in twelve equal monthly installments.
Attractive market demographics. We believe that the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area has a growing economy, a stable base of employment and a high percentage of service-based businesses. We believe service-based businesses, as an industry group, are more favorably disposed to advertise in yellow pages directories. The Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area has experienced economic growth that has exceeded the national average over the past nine years. From 1994 to 2003, the Cincinnati Gross Regional Product grew at an estimated average annual rate of approximately 4% compared to the national Gross Domestic Product average annual growth rate of 3% over the same period. The 2003 unemployment rate for the Cincinnati-Hamilton metropolitan area was nearly 5%, well below the national unemployment rate, and the majority of newly created or retained jobs was in the services industry. In addition, more than 370 Fortune 500 firms have a presence in Cincinnati, and eight of these firms have their headquarters in the region.
Diverse customer base. We have a large, diversified yellow pages customer base. In 2003, we served more than 19,000 local and approximately 1,100 national advertisers through our fourteen yellow pages directories. We believe that the significance of the directory advertising medium to these customers, along with the diversity of our customer
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base, mitigates the effect of downturns in the economy or any individual sector of the economy on our business as our operations are not dependent on any one particular advertiser or industry segment. In 2003, no single advertiser represented more than 0.4% of our revenue and our largest topical directory heading accounted for only 5.5% of our total revenue. In addition, in 2003, our top ten topical directory headings accounted for approximately 22.0% of total revenue.
Significant value for our target advertisers. We believe that directory advertising provides significant value to our customers and a value greater than that created by advertising in most other major forms of media. The over 2 million yellow pages directories that were distributed to businesses and residences represent a broad spectrum of potential users and, in turn, offer our advertisers significant local reach. Directory advertising is also directional in nature, which means consumers typically use directories immediately before making a purchase, creating a meaningful value for advertisers in the directory.
Experienced management team. Our current management team has over 50 years combined experience with our business, with an average of approximately thirteen years of experience each. Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Douglas A. Myers, has worked at our business for the past sixteen years in a variety of positions prior to being appointed to his current role in 1999. John P. Schwing, our Chief Financial Officer, and David D. Miller, our Vice President of Sales and Operations, have served in senior management roles with us for the past twelve and fifteen years, respectively. The senior managements relationships with the strategic partners involved in CBD Medias operations are well-established and long-standing. In addition, each member of our senior management has an equity interest in our business.
Business Strategy
Increase revenue from existing local customer base. We have historically achieved annual revenue growth by selling additional advertising or services to our existing local customer base of more than 19,000 local customers, comprised primarily of small to medium-sized service businesses. By offering a larger ad display, color text instead of black and white, improved display placement under a heading, and a wide variety of specialty product offerings such as directory spine and back-cover advertising, we have been successful in generating higher average revenue per customer over time, the key focus of our sales force.
Expand product offerings and value-added services. We provide small and medium-sized businesses with a fully-integrated solution for their directory advertising needs. For many of our local advertisers, printed yellow pages advertising has historically been their primary or only means of advertising. Less than a third of our print customers currently advertise using our internet directory advertising site, cincinnatibellyellowpages.com. We have fully integrated this website in our local sales channel and have begun providing a bundled advertising product consisting of print and internet advertising to our customers. We believe that as the percentage of our customer base using our internet directory advertising products increases, we will be able to generate incremental revenue from these products. We are introducing additional advertising opportunities in our print directory product, such as front cover advertisements, which we expect will also allow us to generate additional incremental revenue from our customer base.
Leverage strategic partnerships. Our unique partnership-based business model allows us to generate operating margins which we believe, based on publicly available information, are among the highest in the directory publishing industry and allows our management team to focus on strategic growth. We will continue to use these partnerships to generate continued revenue growth while maintaining our strong operational margins. We believe that our selection of industry-leading strategic partners and our value to these partners has allowed us to achieve favorable operating results while avoiding significant capital expenditures and limiting corporate overhead.
Industry
Directory advertising competes with all other forms of media advertising, including television, radio, newspapers, the internet, billboards and direct mail. Unlike other forms of advertising, directory advertising is characterized as primarily directional advertising (which refers to advertising targeted at consumers who are actively seeking information and are prepared to purchase a product or service). Historically, the U.S. directory advertising industry has been dominated by the large publishing businesses of regional Bell operating companies, or RBOCs, and other incumbent local telephone companies.
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Directory advertising market size
It is estimated that the U.S. directory advertising industry generated sales of approximately $14.9 billion in 2002. The industry is characterized by steady and consistent growth with advertising spending increasing at a 5.5%, 4.8% and 4.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five, ten and fifteen years, respectively. The following chart depicts the estimated size and growth of the U.S. directory advertising industry since 1985:
U.S. directory advertising: 1985 - 2002
| Year |
Growth |
Spending | ||||
| (Dollars in billions) | ||||||
| 1985 |
| $ | 5.8 | |||
| 1986 |
12.1 | % | 6.5 | |||
| 1987 |
12.3 | 7.3 | ||||
| 1988 |
6.6 | 7.8 | ||||
| 1989 |
7.1 | 8.3 | ||||
| 1990 |
7.2 | 8.9 | ||||
| 1991 |
2.9 | 9.2 | ||||
| 1992 |
1.5 | 9.3 | ||||
| 1993 |
2.1 | 9.5 | ||||
| 1994 |
3.2 | 9.8 | ||||
| 1995 |
4.6 | 10.2 | ||||
| 1996 |
4.8 | 10.7 | ||||
| 1997 |
5.8 | 11.4 | ||||
| 1998 |
6.5 | 12.1 | ||||
| 1999 |
6.9 | 13.0 | ||||
| 2000 |
7.8 | 14.0 | ||||
| 2001 |
5.2 | 14.7 | ||||
| 2002 |
1.1 | 14.9 | ||||
Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Communications Industry Forecast, July 1997 and 2003. Reported Yellow Pages Advertising revenue includes revenue from Publishers Internet yellow pages operations.
Local versus national advertising
While directory advertising is sold on both a local and national basis, local advertising from small and medium-sized businesses constitutes the majority of directory advertising spending. As shown in the table below, from 1997 to 2002, local print directory advertising constituted approximately 84.6% of total spending for the U.S. directory advertising industry. This is consistent with our experience, where for the period from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003, local advertising accounted for over 80% of our total revenue.
Local versus national U.S. directory advertising: 1997 - 2002
| 1997 |
% of total |
1998 |
% of total |
1999 |
% of total |
2000 |
% of total |
2001 |
% of total |
2002 |
CAGR 97-02 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in billions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Local |
$ | 9.7 | 85.0 | % | $ | 10.2 | 84.4 | % | $ | 10.9 | 84.4 | % | $ | 11.8 | 84.5 | % | $ | 12.4 | 84.5 | % | $ | 12.6 | 5.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
5.0 | % | 5.6 | % | 6.8 | % | 7.9 | % | 5.1 | % | 1.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National |
$ | 1.7 | 15.0 | % | $ | 1.9 | 15.6 | % | $ | 2.0 | 15.6 | % | $ | 2.2 | 15.5 | % | $ | 2.3 | 15.5 | % | $ | 2.3 | 6.2 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
10.9 | % | 10.6 | % | 7.1 | % | 7.3 | % | 6.0 | % | 0.2 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total |
$ | 11.4 | 100.0 | % | $ | 12.1 | 100.0 | % | $ | 13.0 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.0 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.7 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.9 | 5.5 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
5.8 | % | 6.5 | % | 6.9 | % | 7.8 | % | 5.2 | % | 1.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Communications Industry Forecast, July 2003. Publishers Internet Yellow Pages revenue is included in the Local Yellow Pages figures.
Competition within the industry
Presently, the industry can be divided into two major groups of directory advertising publishers: the directory businesses of RBOCs and other incumbent local telephone companies such as Cincinnati Bell Telephone, referred to as Incumbent Publishers, and independent publishers such as TransWestern Publishing Company LLC, the U.S. business of Yell Group Ltd. and McLeodUSA Media Group Inc. (which has been acquired by Yell Group Ltd.), referred to as Independent Publishers. Fueled by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which assured access to
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telephone subscriber listings at nominal rates, and significant private equity investment, Independent Publishers have begun to consolidate and increase their market share. As shown in the table below, the Independent Publishers revenues have increased over the last five years, yet the Incumbent Publishers remain the dominant players, with an estimated 88.3% share of total 2002 revenue for the U.S. directory advertising industry.
U.S. directory market share: 1997 - 2002
| 1997 |
% of total |
1998 |
% of total |
1999 |
% of total |
2000 |
% of total |
2001 |
% of total |
2002 |
% of total |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in billions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incumbent publishers(1) |
$ | 10.6 | 93.6 | % | $ | 11.2 | 92.8 | % | $ | 11.8 | 91.4 | % | $ | 12.3 | 90.0 | % | $ | 12.9 | 89.3 | % | $ | 12.8 | 88.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
5.6 | % | 5.3 | % | 4.9 | % | 4.9 | % | 4.6 | % | -0.6 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Independent publishers |
$ | 0.7 | 6.4 | % | $ | 0.9 | 7.2 | % | $ | 1.1 | 8.6 | % | $ | 1.4 | 10.0 | % | $ | 1.5 | 10.7 | % | $ | 1.7 | 11.7 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
8.7 | % | 20.7 | % | 26.0 | % | 25.2 | % | 12.0 | % | 10.0 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total |
$ | 11.4 | 100.0 | % | $ | 12.1 | 100.0 | % | $ | 12.9 | 100.0 | % | $ | 13.7 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.4 | 100.0 | % | $ | 14.5 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
| % growth yearly |
5.8 | % | 6.3 | % | 6.4 | % | 6.6 | % | 5.3 | % | 0.5 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Communications Industry Forecast, July 2003.
| (1) | Includes the directory businesses of RBOCs and other incumbent local telephone companies. Revenues from publishers Internet Yellow Pages has been excluded from reported revenues. |
We believe that Incumbent Publishers maintain higher margins than their Independent Publisher competitors due to their affiliation with the incumbent local telephone service provider, highly recognized brand names, established consumer usage, broader distribution, wider geographic coverage and long-term advertiser relationships. Given these advantages, Independent Publishers are forced to compete primarily on price, with advertising rates that are significantly lower than the rates for equivalent products listed by Incumbent Publishers. As a result, Independent Publishers typically have substantially lower margins than Incumbent Publishers.
Competition with other media
We believe that one of the most compelling aspects of yellow pages directories is their ability to weather economic downturns more favorably than other forms of advertising. For example, during the last two recessions, beginning in 1991 and 2001, yellow pages directory advertising was one of the only media segments to show revenue growth. As the table below highlights, U.S. directory advertising industry spending increased 2.9% and 5.2% in 1991 and 2001, respectively, while other major media segments declined.
Advertising spending by media category: 1990 - 2002
| Year |
U.S. Directories |
Spending Growth |
Television(1) |
Spending Growth |
Radio |
Spending Growth |
Newspaper |
Spending Growth |
||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in billions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 |
$ | 8.9 | | $ | 29.2 | | $ | 8.7 | | $ | 35.6 | | ||||||||||||
| 1991 |
9.2 | 2.9 | % | 28.3 | (2.8 | )% | 8.5 | (2.9 | )% | 33.6 | (5.7 | )% | ||||||||||||
| 1992 |
9.3 | 1.5 | 30.5 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 2.1 | 33.9 | 1.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993 |
9.5 | 2.1 | 31.9 | 4.4 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 35.4 | 4.4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994 |
9.8 | 3.2 | 35.7 | 12.0 | 10.5 | 11.3 | 38.1 | 7.7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1995 |
10.2 | 4.6 | 37.6 | 5.1 | 11.3 | 7.5 | 40.3 | 5.7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 |
10.7 | 4.8 | 40.7 | 8.4 | 12.3 | 8.4 | 42.6 | 5.8 | < | |||||||||||||||