Baltic, Estonia, Markets and Companies

In the first quarter of 2015, the consolidated EBITDA of Ekspress Group amounted to EUR 1.5 million which is 4% more than last year. The first quarter’s EBITDA was also higher as compared to the company's forecasts and the growth of net profit was 20% higher than forecast for the current year. In the first quarter, the consolidated EBITDA margin of the group increased from 9.8% to 10.7% year-on-year.

The above figures include all the company's joint ventures (AS SL Õhtuleht, AS Ajakirjade Kirjastus and AS Express Post) consolidated 50% line-by-line.

The result of the group’s printing services company Printall was below last year’s level. In annual comparison, revenue in the first quarter was 11% lower and the profit was as much as 20% lower. Weaker results of Printall were attributable to the financial crisis in Russia that has negatively affected export markets of the Scandinavian printing industry, causing Scandinavian enterprises to lose revenue from Russia and creating a major price pressure in the whole region. However, Printall has quickly responded to the situation and while in January, its EBITDA was 40% lower than a year earlier and 18% in February, in March the gap had decreased to 10% while exceeding the company’s own forecast in March by 9%. For the quarter, the company is at present 13% below its forecast.

In the media segment, the total EBITDA earned by joint ventures and subsidiaries improved 20% from the year before, exceeding the group's own forecasts by 34%. Of joint ventures, the strongest year-on-year results were posted by AS SL Õhtuleht and AS Ajakirjade Kirjastus, earning significantly larger profits than a year earlier. Whereas the profit of AS SL Õhtuleht increased due to the impact of changes in printing contracts, AS Ajakirjade Kirjastus also benefited additionally from the successful operations in the advertising market and production of special projects.

In the first quarter, the result of the media segment decreased mainly because of Delfi Lithuania that posted a 33% fall in its EBITDA year-on-year. In the opinion of the Lithuanian company’s management, the result deteriorated mainly because of the changeover to euro at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, Delfi Latvia posted an excellent result, having successfully overcome last year’s euro shock and earning about EUR 100 thousand more in EBITDA in the first quarter than a year earlier, and turning EUR 63 thousand loss earned a year ago into a profit of EUR 43 thousand. Delfi Estonia also had a strong result, increasing its EBITDA by 21% as compared to the year earlier.

Summarising the result of the media segment in the first quarter, online advertising revenue increased by 18%, revenue from subscriptions and retail sales remain at the same level as the year ago, print advertising revenues grew by 8% mainly thanks to the good result of AS Eesti Ajalehed and revenue of digital subscriptions and newsstand sales increased by 41%.