Gruppo Espresso: revenues at €140.8 mn, operating result at €10.3 mn

PERFORMANCE OF THE MARKET
In the period January-February 2016 advertising investment showed growth of 3.7% compared to the same period of 2015 (Nielsen Media Research figures). In the breakdown by type of media, printed press declined by 2.5%, while television, radio and the internet reported positive variance (+6.3%, +1.8% and +2.2%, excluding Search and Social, respectively). As far as advertising in the printed press is concerned, in the first two months of 2016 the trend remained negative (-2.5%), but was significantly better than it was in the same period of 2015 (-8.0%). This was due to national level, which were unchanged on the first two months of 2015, while local press were still distinctly negative (-5.6%, -5.8% in the period January-February 2015).
As for newspaper circulation, according to ADS (Accertamento Diffusione Stampa) figures, in the first two months of 2016 sales declined by 8.0%.

PERFORMANCE OF OPERATIONS OF THE ESPRESSO GROUP IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2016

The Group closed the first quarter of 2016 with a positive net result of €6.1mn. Consolidated revenues, amounting to €140.8mn, were down by 3.5% on the first quarter of 2015 (€145.9mn), with slightly less of a decline than in previous years.
Circulation revenues, which came to €57.9mn, fell by 5.3% on the same period of the previous year (€61.2mn), in a market that, as stated above, has continued to suffer a significant decline in the circulation of daily newspapers. Advertising revenues reported a decline of 2.5%. Internet advertising roses by 7.9%, thanks to the continuing development of advertising on mobile devices and on the new programming and performance platforms. Radio advertising grew by 2.4%, confirming the positive trend already evident last year. Lastly, printed press declined by 7.8%, reflecting the general market trend for newspapers and the significantly negative performance of news magazines.

Costs were down by 3.5%, with a reduction equivalent to the decline in revenues. The variable costs linked to the circulation of newspapers and magazines decreased as did industrial and personnel costs, taking into account a 5% reduction in the average number of staff compared to the first quarter of 2015.

The consolidated gross operating margin was €13.9mn, line with the figure for the first quarter of 2015 (€13.7mn). The consolidated operating result came to €10.3mn, which was slightly higher than the result of the corresponding period of last year (€10.0mn). The profitability of all the sectors held up well compared to the first quarter of 2015. The consolidated net result of operations destined to continue came to €6.0mn, up from €5.8mn in the first quarter of 2015. The sale at the end of January 2015 of the television channel DeejayTV to Discovery Italia gave rise in the first quarter of 2015 to a capital gain of €6.3mn, which is classified under discontinued operations. The consolidated net result was €6.1mn, versus €12.0mn in the first quarter of 2015. The net financial position was positive for €15.5mn at the end of March 2016, which was a significant improvement on the net debt position of €10.7mn at the end of 2015. The financial surplus for the period was €26.2mn (€23.1mn in the first quarter of 2015, including the receipt of the extraordinary item of €8.8mn from disposals). The Group had 2,209 employees, including temporary contracts, at the end of March and the average number of employees in the period was 4.9% lower than in the first quarter of 2015. It should be noted that this quarterly press release has been issued in continuity with the past, pending clarification as to the regulatory position. *** The Company's Director of Administration and Accounts, Mr Gabriele Acquistapace, the Executive responsible for the preparation of the company's financial statements, hereby attests in compliance with the terms of paragraph 2 of Art. 154-bis of the 'Testo Unico delle Finanze' (Finance Consolidation Act) that the figures contained in this press release correspond to the results documented in the company's accounts and general ledger. ***MAIN EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST QUARTER AND OUTLOOKFOR THE REST OF THE YEAR There have been no events of particular significance since the close of the first quarter. It should be remembered on March 2 2016 Gruppo Espresso and ITEDI signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at creating the leading publishing group in Italy that will also be one of he main European groups in the sector of daily and digital news through the merger by incorporation of ITEDI with Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. The deal would make it possible to unite the strength of authoritative historic titles such as la Repubblica, La Stampa, Il Secolo XIX and the numerous local papers of Gruppo Espresso, which in 2015 together reached a total of around 5.8 million readers and over 2.5 million unique users per day on their news websites. The deal has significant business value as its objective is to integrate two groups with complementary businesses and it aims to achieve growing economies of scale. Thanks to a complete range of multimedia content and news services on paper and in digital form, the new group will have the patrimonial strength and will be of a sufficient size to respond to the challenges of the sector, promoting innovative and original projects developed for multiple distribution platforms. The merger will take place according to an exchange of shares that will be established precisely in the final agreements, subject to due diligence and other conditions. On the outcome of the deal, CIR will remain the controlling shareholder with an interest of over 40% in Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. The company resulting from the merger will continue to be listed on Borsa Italiana. The various titles will maintain their full editorial independence. Completion of the merger, which is subject to authorization by the competent authorities and by the respective shareholder meetings, is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2017. Regarding the current year, the advertising market has shown a recovery in the first two months of the year with positive trends for television, the internet and radio and a less accentuated decline for the printed press. However, in the light of performance month by month, the forecast for the whole year is still uncertain. In this context, in the first quarter of 2016 the Group obtained operating results in line with those of last year and a decidedly positive net result.

CIR - Compagnie Industriali Riunite S.p.A. issued this content on 21 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 April 2016 10:24:12 UTC

Original Document: http://www.cirgroup.com/press/press-releases/document/gruppo-espresso-revenues-at-1408-mn-operating-result-at-103-mn.html