Getty Images (GYI) 8-K Getty Images Reports Record Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2005

Exhibit 99.1

GETTY IMAGES REPORTS RECORD FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2005

Record Revenue and Powerful Business Model Drive 30 Percent Operating Margin

Announces Immediately Accretive Acquisition of Digital Vision

SEATTLE, April 20, 2005 – Getty Images, Inc. (NYSE:GYI), the world’s leading imagery company, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005. The company also announced today the all-cash acquisition of Digital Vision for $165 million.

Quarterly Highlights

• Revenue grew 14 percent over the first quarter of 2004

• Operating margin improved to 30 percent compared to 27 percent in the year-ago quarter

• Earnings per diluted share increased more than 25 percent to $0.54 from $0.43 in the first quarter of 2004

“We ended the first quarter with a particularly strong performance in March, the best month in our history, resulting in record quarterly revenue of $178.1 million,” said Jonathan Klein, Getty Images’ co-founder and CEO. “In the quarter we delivered on our key initiatives to grow overall volumes, accelerate international growth and expand our leadership in the editorial segment. Due to the powerful leverage in our business model, we achieved an operating margin of 30 percent. We have tremendous momentum as we celebrate our tenth anniversary and look forward to the next decade of growth.”

For the first quarter, revenue grew 13.8 percent to $178.1 million, compared to $156.5 million in the first quarter of 2004. Excluding the effects of changes in currency exchange rates, revenue grew 11.1 percent. Operating income for the first quarter of 2005 grew 24.7 percent to $53.5 million, or 30.1 percent of revenue, compared to $42.9 million, or 27.4 percent of revenue, in the same quarter last year.

Net income grew 30.8 percent to $34.1 million from $26.1 million the prior year. Earnings per diluted share grew 25.6 percent to $0.54 from $0.43 the prior year.

Gross margin for the first quarter was 71.2 percent, down slightly from 72.0 percent in the first quarter of 2004. Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) totaled $60.1 million, up $5.3 million from the first quarter of 2004. As a percentage of revenue, SG&A declined to 33.7 percent in the first quarter of 2005, its lowest level in company history, compared to 35.0 percent in the same quarter last year.

Cash and short-term investment balances were $572.7 million at March 31, 2005, up from $520.7 million at December 31, 2004.

For the first quarter of 2005, net cash provided by operating activities rose 24.0 percent to $54.1 million compared to $43.7 million for the same period of 2004. The acquisition of property and equipment totaled $8.1 million, compared to $9.1 million for the first quarter of 2004.

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First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

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Digital Vision Acquisition

The company today also announced the acquisition of privately-held Digital Vision for $165 million in cash.

London-based Digital Vision is one of the leading providers of royalty-free imagery in the world. Getty Images’ PhotoDisc collections, the world leader in royalty-free imagery, pioneered the royalty-free licensing model for stock photography. The majority of Digital Vision’s image collection is already available at gettyimages.com through Getty Images’ Image Partner program.

“The acquisition of Digital Vision is a home run – strategically, commercially and financially,” Klein continued. “Digital Vision is the largest of our Image Partners and also the most successful. This transaction unequivocally confirms our leadership position in royalty-free imagery, a licensing model which is accelerating in all our major segments and geographies. Also, much of Digital Vision’s imagery content is wholly-owned, which will help us to explore further innovative offerings such as subscription licensing models and content for emerging broadband-enabled platforms, such as wireless.”

The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings and at least five percent accretive to 2006 earnings per diluted share, post synergies. The company estimates the purchase price represents less than five times expected incremental 2006 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), post synergies.

Business Outlook

The following forward-looking statements reflect Getty Images’ expectations as of April 20, 2005. The company currently does not intend to update these forward-looking statements until the next quarterly results announcement.

For the second quarter of 2005 the company expects to report revenue in the range of $178 million to $183 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.51 to $0.54. For 2005, the company expects revenue in the range of $720 million to $730 million and earnings per diluted share of $2.17 to $2.30. Guidance includes estimated amortization of intangibles related to the Digital Vision acquisition of approximately $1.5 million for the second quarter (or $0.01 per diluted share after tax) and $5.3 million for the full year (or $0.05 per diluted share after tax). The number of fully diluted shares assumed in the earnings per share guidance is approximately 65 million.

Web cast information

The company will host a conference call today at 2:00 pm PT. The dial-in number is 800.289.0544 (North America) or 913.981.5533 (international). There will be a live web cast of the conference call, which can be accessed from the Investors page in the About Us section of the Getty Images Web site at www.gettyimages.com. The company will also provide a replay of the conference call at 888.203.1112 (North America) or 719.457.0820 (international), confirmation number 3042960, until April 22, at 9:00 pm PT. The web cast will be archived on the Getty Images Web site and will be available until April 20, 2006.

Some of the statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s expectations, assumptions and projections about Getty Images and its industry as of the time the statements are made. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our past performance and our current expectations, assumptions and projections. Differences may result from actions taken by the company as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond the company’s control. These

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First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

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risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risks associated with currency fluctuations, changes in the economic, political, competitive and technological environments, and the risks associated with system security, upgrades, updates and service interruptions. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect future performance, please review the reports filed by Getty Images with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004. Except as required by law, Getty Images undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or other events.

About Getty Images

Getty Images is the world’s leading imagery company, creating and providing the largest and most relevant collection of still and moving images to communication professionals around the globe. From news and sports photography to contemporary and archival imagery, Getty Images’ products are found each day in newspapers, magazines, advertising, films, television, books and Web sites. Gettyimages.com is the first place customers turn to search, purchase and download powerful imagery. Seattle-headquartered Getty Images is a global company with customers in more than 100 countries.

Contacts:
Investors:	Media:
David Parker	Deb Trevino
Vice President, Investor Relations	Vice President, Communications
206.925.6930	206.925.6474
david.parker@gettyimages.com	deb.trevino@gettyimages.com

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First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(unaudited)

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31,	2005			2004
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Revenue	$	178,094		$	156,512
Cost of sales		51,254			43,806
Gross profit		126,840			112,706
Selling, general and administrative expenses		60,054			54,718
Depreciation		12,035			13,823
Amortization		1,222			1,094
Other operating (income) expenses		(16	)		129
Operating expenses		73,295			69,764
Income from operations		53,545			42,942
Interest expense		(962	)		(1,067	)
Investment income		2,889			1,743
Exchange losses, net		(490	)		(708	)
Income before income taxes		54,982			42,910
Income tax expense		(20,874	)		(16,824	)
Net income	$	34,108		$	26,086
Earnings per share
Basic	$	0.56		$	0.45
Diluted		0.54			0.43
Shares used in computing earnings per share
Basic		60,944			57,666
Diluted		63,692			60,157

Getty Images, Inc.

First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

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CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(unaudited)

	MARCH 31, 2005			DECEMBER 31, 2004
(In thousands)
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	274,589		$	194,752
Short-term investments		298,154			325,958
Accounts receivable, net		100,632			89,272
Prepaid expenses		8,382			10,651
Deferred income taxes, net		8,335			8,335
Other current assets		2,687			2,894
Total current assets		692,779			631,862
Property and equipment, net		107,666			112,501
Goodwill		628,073			628,717
Identifiable intangible assets, net		12,567			13,874
Deferred income taxes, net		41,844			54,652
Other long-term assets		9,801			9,978
Total assets	$	1,492,730		$	1,451,584
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	$	74,108		$	67,362
Accrued expenses		31,209			42,810
Income taxes payable		5,252			3,608
Total current liabilities		110,569			113,780
Long-term debt		265,000			265,000
Other long-term liabilities		10,254			9,692
Total liabilities		385,823			388,472
Stockholders’ equity
Common stock		611			607
Additional paid-in capital		1,227,877			1,210,203
Unearned compensation		(2,506	)		—
Accumulated deficit		(134,495	)		(168,603	)
Accumulated other comprehensive income		15,420			20,905
Total stockholders’ equity		1,106,907			1,063,112
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	1,492,730		$	1,451,584

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First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(unaudited)

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31,	2005			2004
(In thousands)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income	$	34,108		$	26,086
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities
Deferred income taxes		17,329			14,636
Depreciation		12,035			13,823
Amortization of identifiable intangible assets		1,222			1,094
Bad debt expense		691			1,421
Amortization of debt issuance costs		590			477
Other changes in long-term assets and liabilities		675			1,021
Changes in current assets and liabilities, net of effects of business acquisitions
Accounts receivable		(14,429	)		(11,154	)
Accounts payable		7,452			7,024
Accrued expenses		(12,143	)		(8,035	)
Income taxes payable		2,606			(3,144	)
Changes in other current assets and liabilities		4,004			424
Net cash provided by operating activities		54,140			43,673
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisition of available-for-sale investments		(65,641	)		(113,952	)
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale investments		90,947			77,782
Acquisition of property and equipment		(8,102	)		(9,097	)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities		17,204			(45,267	)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from the issuance of common stock		9,748			12,448
Debt issuance costs paid		(133	)		(136	)
Net cash provided by financing activities		9,615			12,312
Effects of exchange rate differences		(1,122	)		1,250
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents		79,837			11,968
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period		194,752			57,018
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	$	274,589		$	68,986