EBITDA of 624 MILLION EUROS: PRISA post profits across all business units

PRISA reports revenue of 3,208.58 million euros, EBITDA of 623.75 million euros and EBIT of 368.98 million euros. The Group achieved a net profit of 50.48 million euros and improves operational efficiency by reducing spending by 15.3%.        

• Santillana had revenue of 616.89 million euros (+1.5%) and increased its EBITDA by 13.2% to 152.12 million. Margin was up at  24.7%.
• In print media, revenue was 415.79 million euros. El País reported revenue of 285 million euros, had EBITDA of 39.34 million and a profit of 12.05 million euros. The newspaper confirmed its lead with an average daily circulation of 391,816 copies in 2009. Sports daily As reported revenue of 72.57 million, EBITDA  of 10.72 million and profits of 7 million euros.
• Union Radio turnover was 377.17 million euros, with EBITDA at 100 million euros. International Radio EBITDA increased by 53.5% to 18.79 million euros and saw margins rise by seven points to 20.3%. Radio broadcaster SER closed 2009 with 4,819,000 listeners and is audience leader across all time slots. 
• PRISA's audiovisual unit had revenues of 1,770 million euros. DIGITAL + posted EBITDA of  307.18 million  euros, with margins up, at 24.5%. Media Capital had revenues of 267.71 million and EBITDA of 52.48 million euros.
• PRISA has completed its disinvestment plan and has teamed up with strategic partners, who will contribute technology, capital and new markets. Despite the economic crisis, all the Group's business units show profits. 

The business lead enjoyed by PRISA, the diversification of revenues, along with a 15.3% reduction in spending, has enabled the Group to maintain profits across all business units and keep EBITDA stable over 2009, despite the market crisis and the difficulties facing the industry sector. Consolidated net profit exceeds fifty million euros.

Over this period, the Group's operating income reached 3,208.58 billion, representing a fall of 19% compared to the figure of 4001.35 million in 2008. Excluding the extraordinary income from the sale of property (226.78 million) and the entry of 3i capital in Radio Union (59.68 million), the decline in comparable terms with respect to 2008 is only 13 %. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) is 368.98 million euros and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is 623.75 million, with improved margins. Excluding extraordinary incomes, the fall in EBITDA compared to 2008 is 7.4%. 

The composition of income shows the relative weight of advertising (28%), and an increased contribution from the education and books units (up from 14% to 19%), and audiovisual (up from 29% to 31%). Also noteworthy is the increase of income from the international area (23% compared to 19% in 2008).

The fall in advertising revenues slowed down, with the Group reporting a 15% drop as compared to the 22% decline witnessed during the first nine months of 2009. The decrease in advertising revenues remains below the estimated average market figure (-21%). 

The containment policy launched by the company has succeeded in reducing operating expenses by 15.3%, excluding depreciation and amortization. Capital expenditures (CAPEX) is down by 32.8% compared to the previous year.

Net debt position at year-end 2009 was of 4.857 million euros. The company has informed the Spanish Securities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) which is finalizing an agreement on financial and debt restructuring with creditor banks.

INCOME STATEMENT

Advertising revenue

Despite the adverse market environment, advertising revenue (898.62 million) saw its fall slow down from 22% in the first nine months of 2009 to 15.8% for the whole year, compared to 21% decline estimated for the market for the year 2009. This is due both to the diversification of Group's clients and the Group's position in national, local and international advertising.

In the last quarter of the year, the Group's advertising revenue grew by 3.5%, with notable increases reported by the radio business as a whole (especially International Radio) and the audiovisual area. There was also a reduced fall in press advertising. The decline in the online and digital area is explained by the transfer of web sites to their respective business units.

Publishing, education and training

Income from book sales and training has increased by 3.6% to 600.47 million euros compared to 579.74 million euros in 2008.

There was notable growth in Venezuela (+56.9%), Chile (+31.5%) and Argentina (+21.0%). Brazil saw its sales increase by 9.4% in local currency, while Mexico improved its revenue by 6.2% in local currency. and Spain reported an increase of 2.4% in book sales.

Press

El País has adopted a new organizational model, which involves the merger of the editorial desk of the newspaper and the Internet to streamline production structure and the publishing of the newspaper with a view to boosting competitiveness. This reorganization involves the creation of two companies dedicated to administrative and production services. The Group set up the company, Box News Publicity, which will be responsible for all advertising sales in the press sector.

El País, with an average daily circulation of 391,816 copies, consolidates its leadership and maintains its lead over its closest competitor. It reported EBITDA of EUR 39.34 million and a net profit of 12.05 million euros. El País is one of few leading newspapers in the world to post a profit last year. According to third round auditing figures from the bureau EGM, El País has more than two million readers daily.

AS continues to catch up with its main competitor, with an average daily circulation of 215,297 copies. With 1,306,000 readers (EGM 3rd round), readership is up by 40,000 and the sports paper continues to hold its lead in Madrid and Barcelona. As posted profits of 7 million euros.

With regards to the online newspaper websites: AS.com saw user numbers grow by 44.2% to 1,566,000 unique users; ELPAIS.com, with 2,618,000 readers a month, saw growth of 25.4%, and cincodias.com was only Spanish business and finance site that saw growth in 2009

Radio

Union Radio had a turnover of 377.17 million euros and EBITDA of 100 million. EBITDA for International Radio increased 53.5% to 18.79 million euros and margins improved by seven points to reach 20.3%. Radio broadcaster SER closed 2009 as clear audience leader with 4,819,000 listeners, more than the sum of its three main competitors in the general-interest private radio sector across all time slots.

Audiovisual

Sogecable reported revenues of 1,525 million euros and a net profit of 90 million euros.

Digital+ saw subscriber revenues reach 1002.04 million. The average revenue per subscriber to the Pay TV platform was 41 euros per month in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the total number of subscribers as of December 31, 2009, was 1,845,805. Canal+ Liga, the new football channel launched last August, had almost 700,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2009.

TV channel Cuatro closed 2009 with an average audience share of 8.2% for the 24-hour period and 8.7% in prime time. The station has seen positive growth compared to 2008 for the most important business goals, such as commercial target (up from 10.6% to 10.7%) and core commercial target (11.7% to 12%).

TVI, Media Capital's Free-to-View channel, is audience leader another year running in Portugal. In 2009, the TV station posted an average audience-share figure of 35.0% for the 24-hour period and 40.4% in prime time. TVI posted a net profit of 27 million.