(Alliance News) - RCS MediaGroup Spa reported Monday that it closed the first half of the year with a net profit of EUR30.3 million, up from EUR24.2 million in the same period last year.

Net income rose despite revenues falling to EUR439.2 million from EUR445.7 million, with first-half advertising revenues amounting to EUR179.4 million compared to EUR175.1 million in the first half of 2022. Total advertising revenues in online media amounted to EUR67.7 million, accounting for about 38 percent of total advertising revenues.

Publishing and circulation revenues amounted to EUR165.5 million from EUR178.5 million in the first half of 2022 and showed a EUR13 million decrease attributable to a EUR6.5 million decline in revenues from collateral works and print circulation revenues, partially offset by growth in digital subscription revenues. Other revenues rose to EUR94.3 million from EUR2.2 million.

Ebitda was EUR70.5 million from EUR60.6 million while the figure before nonrecurring charges fell slightly to EUR71.1 million from EUR71.9 million.

Operating income increased to EUR44.9 million from EUR35.8 million.

As of June 30, net debt was EUR69.4 million from EUR31.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2022. The change is mainly driven by outlays for dividend distribution of about EUR31 million and for technical investments and nonrecurring expenses of about EUR13 million, partially offset by the positive contribution of typical operations of about EUR6 million, which is affected by the current timing of collection of tax credits provided for the publishing sector - as of June 30, about EUR18.5 million is the remaining credit related also to the years 2021 and 2022 - and by the dynamics of working capital also due to the seasonality of its trend.

Total net financial debt, which also includes financial debts for leases under IFRS 16, mainly related to real estate leases, totaling EUR135 million as of June 30 from EUR142.8 million in mid-2022, amounted to EUR204.4 million, an increase of EUR30 million compared to December 31, 2022.

"In view of the actions already implemented and those planned, in the absence of a worsening of the consequences attributable to the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine and the dynamics of costs, the group believes that it is possible to confirm the objective of achieving strongly positive margins in 2023, up from those achieved in 2022, with cash generation in the second half of the year, improving the Net Financial Position at year-end compared to the end of 2022. The evolution of the current conflict and the general situation of the economy and reference sectors could, however, condition the full achievement of these objectives," the company explained.

RCS MediaGroup's stock is up 1.1 percent at EUR0.72 per share.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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