It met today in Rome, chaired by Ing. Carlo De Benedetti, the Board of Directors of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso SpA which approved the consolidated results as at 31 March 2013. The Group's consolidated net revenues were affected by the severely recessionary context, amounting to 182,1 million, down by 11,8 .2012% compared to the first quarter of 206,5 (16,7 million). The consolidated EBITDA amounted to 29,6 million compared to 2012 million in the first quarter of XNUMX.
All areas of traditional activity are down due to the general decrease in advertising revenues; however, the activity that suffers the most is that of the national press (la Repubblica and periodicals), while the local newspapers show greater stability. Improve the result of digital division.
The consolidated operating result is equal to 8,8 million euros compared to 20,5 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. The consolidated net result shows a profit of 2 million, against 10,1 million in the first quarter of 2012.
The consolidated net financial position shows a further improvement, going from -108,1 million at the end of 2012 to -83,5 million as at 31 March 2013, with a financial surplus of 24,7 million. However, the outlook for 2013 remains very uncertain due to the recessionary situation which strongly influences advertising investments.
Compared to the latter, the decline recorded in the first two months of 2013 could reasonably ease during the year, taking into account the progressive contraction already experienced by the latter during 2012; however, in the light of the current economic context, it cannot be excluded that the gap in the first months of 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012 may be confirmed for the entire year.
The development of digital, the maintenance of success in traditional products and the reduction of costs remain the guidelines of the Group's management; with reference to costs, taking into account the situation, the Group expects to undertake more incisive reduction actions than those currently in progress.
