Advertisement

MTG stock falls despite profits hike

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
MTG stock falls despite profits hike
Rädda radion! ("Save the radio!") campaign at MTG subsidiary MTG Radio, December

Swedish media concern Modern Times Group (MTG) has reported a pre-tax profit of 499 million kronor ($75 million) for the third quarter 2009.

Advertisement

The firm reported a profit of 336 million kronor for the corresponding period of 2009. Despite the profits increase, the stock markets punished the firm in afternoon trading.

MTG, which is part of the Stenbeck family firm, reported a turnover of 3.53 billion kronor, in comparison with 3.18 billion in the third quarter 2009.

Excluding currency effects, the firm boosted revenues in all of business areas, which include among other things, the television operator Viasat which recently purchased the rights to the English Premier League.

"The performance was once again led by our Scandinavian free-TV operations, which capitalised on strong advertising demand and rising pricing levels," CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht said in a company statement.

Analysts had forecasts a pre-tax profit of 443 million kronor and a turnover of 3.53 billion kronor, according to a Reuters poll.

"The business climate remained difficult in the second quarter with pressure on advertising budgets in all countries and significant falls in revenue among the TV companies," MTG CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht wrote in the interim report.

Albrecht outlined the company's primary goal of increasing audience and market share.

We aim to take further audience and market shares and to continue to invest in enhancing our competitive market positions. We have been encouraged by the level of advertising demand in Scandinavia and the stability in the emerging advertising markets," he said.

MTG stock dipped 4.69 percent on news of the report in late-afternoon trading on the Stockholm exchange, having declined almost 25 kronor to 499.90 kronor per share.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also