PRISA sees comparable EBITDA up by 8% in the first nine months of the year

• The Group meets its goals and sees considerable improvement over 2017 figures

• The Education business reports 2% growth for EBITDA and 4% for revenue, despite there being no new launches in Spain. Santillana achieves a market share of 33.4% in the institutional sales market in Brazil, compared to 16% the previous year, as a result of the extraordinary performance of products and sales initiatives

• PRISA Radio shows an operational improvement of 35%. PRISA Noticias continues to forge ahead with its digital development towards a successful, scalable model; and the company has successfully implemented its efficiency plan

• Media Capital boosts its operating result by 6%, with an increase in advertising revenues of 2%

• The efficiency plan generates cost savings of 33.8 million, with a positive impact on EBITDA of 26.9 million

• The Group reports a positive cash flow of 10.2 million, compared to a negative cash flow of 69 million in the first nine months of 2017

• Exchange rates have a negative impact of 63.3 million on revenues and 15.7 million on EBITDA. In addition, the hyperinflationary situation in Argentina has a negative impact on reported accounts of 14.8 million in revenues and of 6.1 million on EBITDA.

• Net debt, as of September 2018, amounts to 988 million, compared to 1,422 million in December 2017

• The gross result is 57.3 million, compared to 7.6 million in 2017. The net result shows a negative balance of 3 million, compared to 55.6 million in the previous comparable period

• The Group increases financial transparency, with S&P and Fitch providing the credit rating (B) and (B-) respectively. Both with stable perspective

• The Group maintains the forecasts for the whole year

PRISA Group has reported comparable EBITDA (at a constant exchange rate and disregarding the temporary effect of IFRS 15) of 228 million euros in the first nine months of 2018, representing an increase of 8% over the same period of the previous year. Revenues amounted to 1,014 million, an improvement of 2%, as reflected in the figures submitted to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Throughout these past three financial quarters, PRISA’s accounts have shown a clearly positive trend with regards to operating results of the business units, progress in the implementation of the efficiency plan –with a notable increase in savings – and a positive cash generation of 10.2 million euros.

Over the period analyzed, the Education business reported EBITDA growth of 2%, accompanied by a 4% growth in revenues, despite there being no major launches or projects in Spain. The figures owe much to the performance that the campaigns in both the southern and northern areas have shown, despite the negative exchange rate effect, mainly due to the evolution of currencies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, and the impact of hyperinflation in Argentina. Meanwhile, Santillana closed the round of tenders for institutional sales in Brazil with a 33.4% share, up from 16%, thanks to the extraordinary performance of products and sales initiatives. These sales, which amount to BRL 150 million, will be reported in the fourth quarter of 2018. In addition, over the next three years, above average replenishments are expected, compared to previous years.

With regard to the Media businesses, Radio shows an operational improvement of 35%, thanks to buoyant performance both in Spain (with growth in revenues of 4% and an increase in EBITDA of 58%) and in Latin America, where revenues are up by 3% in local currency while EBITDA remains flat. Good performance in Colombia with an increase of 6% and 10% in Chile, partially offsets the difficult situation in Argentina).

Meanwhile, the Press businesses continue apace with their digital development towards a successful, scalable model. Indeed, in recent weeks alone, two major agreements have been announced. Firstly, EL PAÍS and Arc Publishing – the digital platform designed by The Washington Post – have joined forces to optimize the technological infrastructure of the leading newspaper in the Spanish-speaking world. Arc is a state-of-the-art platform that will improve the reader experience and speed up the production and distribution of digital content. Secondly, PRISA and Vocento have reached an agreement to create a joint platform for the sale of programmatic advertising. The goal of this new Market Place is to leverage qualitative audience aggregation for the sale of programmatic advertising. This offers advertisers improved visibility rates and generates campaigns that are more efficiently targeted at users. This project also foresees, from the outset, the incorporation of new partners from among Spain’s chief publishers with negotiations already at an advanced stage.

Media Capital, meanwhile, saw its operating result up by 6%, with a 2% increase in advertising revenues. The company maintains its solid lead in the Portuguese market.

Apart from the robust performance of the individual business units, it is worth highlighting the result of the global efficiency drive. The plan has generated cost savings of 33.8 million in the first nine months of the year (19.8 million in the first half), with an impact on EBITDA of 26.9 million euros (15.7 in the first half).

However exchange rates have had a negative impact on revenues of 63.3 million euros and of 15.7 million on EBITDA. Additionally, the impact of the hyperinflationary situation in Argentina has had a negative impact on revenues of 14.8 million euros and 6.1 million euros on EBITDA.

Net debt, as of September 2018, stood at 988 million, compared to 1,422 million in December last year. The first nine months of the year saw positive cash generation of 10.2 million euros, as compared to a negative cash balance of 69 million euros seen in the same period of the previous year.

The Group's gross result, between January and September of 2018, amounts to 57.3 million, compared to the figure of 7.6 million for the same period of the previous year. The net result shows a negative balance of 3 million, compared to 55.6 million in the previous comparable period

In addition, after the capital increase and the agreement with creditor banks to refinance debt, PRISA has taken a new step forward in financial transparency, with the Group's credit rating provided by two international agencies of recognized prestige. These agencies have assigned a B rating with stable outlook (Fitch) and B- with stable outlook (S&P), which are in line with those obtained by other companies in the industry. These ratings are an acknowledgment of the significant improvement in the Group's financial situation, as well as the strength of its businesses.

With the results of the first nine months of the year, PRISA can confirm its forecasts for 2018.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS BY BUSINESS UNIT

Education

• Campaigns in the southern area closed with 9% growth in revenues and 7% in EBITDA in local currency. In the northern area, Spain showed a fall, as was to be expected in a year without any major launches or initiatives. Mexico. meanwhile, reported growth thanks to the solid performance of both regular campaigns and public tenders.

• Learning systems UNO and Compartir, Farias Brito and Educa have seen student numbers grow by 6% to exceed one million, with revenues of 103 million euros, up by 12% in local currency.

• Santillana maintains its lead in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia and ranks second in Brazil.

Radio

• The latest EGM figures confirm the leadership of PRISA Radio stations in Spain, for both general and music radio.

• In Spain, the figure for PRISA Radio’s gross advertising grew by 4.3% in the first nine months of 2018. The increase was 5.3% for national advertising and 2.6% for local advertising.

• Noteworthy is the substantial improvement in margins (from 14% to 18%) due to the strong operating leverage, with solid performance in revenues and cost control.

Press

• EL PAÍS consolidates its position as the world’s number one newspaper in Spanish and AS consolidates its digital leadership in the Americas.

• Digital advertising revenues grow at a faster rate (13%) than traditional advertising revenues (-11.5%). This points to positive future prospects. Digital advertising already accounts for 53% of the total. In the case of AS, the percentage is 73%.

• January to September saw 127 million unique browsers, an increase of 17%.

• Implementation of efficiency measures aimed at variabilizing the costs associated with physical print copies, whose revenues fell by 13%.

Media Capital

• Media Capital strengthens its lead in Portugal in terms of market share and profitability.

• TVI maintains its lead both around the clock and in prime time, reaching a daily average audience of 24% and 27%, respectively.

• Media Capital Radio shows an increase in revenues of 4.7%, with an operating improvement of 16.8%. Audience share for all Media Capital radio stations continues to grow, reaching 38%