Press Release: Mediaset Board Meeting 10 November 2009 BOARD APPROVES RESULTS OF THE FIRST 9 MONTHS OF 2009

Press Release

Mediaset Board Meeting 10 November 2009
BOARD APPROVES RESULTS OF THE FIRST 9 MONTHS OF 2009

Consolidated Results
Net revenues: €2,652.1 million
Net profit: €184.2 million
Italy
Net revenues: €2,220.7 million
Net profit: €156.0 million
Television costs: -3.7%
Mediaset Premium pay TV revenues +63.6%
Ratings: Canal 5 Italy’s most popular channel in the 24-hours
Mediaset channels confirm leadership
in the 15-64 year-old audience
Spain
Net revenues: €432.2 million
Net profit: €62.2 million
Operating profitability: 19.1%
Ratings: Telecinco Spain’s leading channel in prime time
The Board of Directors of Mediaset, met today under the Chairmanship of Fedele
Confalonieri, to approve the company’s quarterly report to 30 September 2009.
Also during the third quarter of this year the Group’s results continued to be affected,
particularly in Spain, by the deep recession in the world economy. A generalised
difficulty that has led to a marked fall in advertising investments in the two countries in
which the Mediaset Group operates.
In this context, the Group in Italy was nevertheless able to contain the fall in
advertising revenues compared with its competitors, while consolidating its market
share. In terms of ratings, leadership was confirmed in the commercial target of
reference and the absolute primacy of Canale 5 across the entire TV audience in the
current autumn guarantee period.
Moreover, strenuous efforts to control TV costs and the excellent performance of
Mediaset Premium have made it possible to significantly mitigate, above all in Italy,
the negative impact on margins created by the reduction in advertising revenue.
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MEDIASET GROUP: CONSOLIDATED RESULTS
Performance in the first nine months of 2009 can be summarised as follows:
• the Mediaset Group’s consolidated net revenues amounted to €2,652.1 million a
reduction of 11.4% on the €2,993.9 million of the first nine months of 2008.
• the Group’s EBIT came to €380.9 million, compared with €705.2 million in the first
nine months of the previous year.
• operating profitability was 14.4%, compared with 23.6% in the first nine months
of 2008.
• profit before taxation and that attributable to third-party shareholders, amounted
to €329,4 million compared with €609.0 million to 30 September 2008.
• net profit attributable to the Group came to €184.2 million, compared with the
€355.8 million of the first nine months of the previous year.
• the Group’s net financial position went from -€1,371.7 million on 31 December
2008 to -€1,601.5 million on 30 September 2009.
• in the first nine months of the year net cash generation amounted to €300.3
million compared with €548.4 million in the first nine months of the previous year.
It should be noted that, following the partnership agreement finalised on 30 June 2009 between RTI SpA and the
private equity fund 21 Partner, the Mediaset Group’s stake in Medusa Cinema SpA and Mesusa Multicinema SpA
(businesses that in the first nine months of 2008 generated revenues of €35.6 million) has gone from 100% to 49%.
Consequently the consolidated financial statements, both for the first half of 2008 and the first half of 2009 have
been reclassified to show separately the contribution of these businesses and the economic impact of the
operation.
A BREAKDOWN OF RESULTS BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
Italy
• In the first nine months of 2009 consolidated net revenues amounted to
€2,220.7 million, a fall of 1.7% on the €2,259.5 million of the same period of the
previous year. In the third quarter revenues grew by 2.5% thanks to the excellent
performance of Mediaset Premium and a combination of other non-television
activities (including Mediashopping and film distribution).
gross television advertising revenues came to €1,823.0 million, a fall of 10.8%
on the €2.043,2 million of the first nine months of 2008. This result highlights the
progressive improvement achieved during the second and third quarters. In
particular, in the third quarter revenues recorded a more limited fall of -7%.
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According to Nielsen data for the first nine months of the year, the trend in
advertising sales for Mediaset channels was markedly better that the overall trend
in the advertising market as a whole (-18.4%) and the television advertising
market (-17.4%), both net of Mediaset’s contribution.
Mediaset Premium revenues: total revenues generated by Mediaset Premium
came to €379.9 million, compared with €269.5 million in the first nine months of
2008 (+41.0%). Revenues from the characteristic business (sale of cards,
recharges and Easy Pay) were up by 63.6%.
Active cards as of 30 September 2009 totalled around 2.9 million, compared with
around 2.5 million in the same period of the previous year. A more than brilliant
achievement, given that by 30 June 2009 more than 2 million Premium cards has
expired.
• EBIT came to €298.4 million, compared with the €380.9 million of the first nine
months of 2008, a reduction of 21.7%.
• Total television costs were down by 3.7% compared with the first nine months of
2008. In the third quarter there was a reduction of 5.9% compared with the same
period of last year. This result confirms the scrupulous efficiency policy that
reduces costs without having a negative impact of the appeal of the schedule or
on the ratings of the Mediaset channels.
• net profit amounted to €156.0 million, compared with €248.5 million for the same
period of the previous year.
TV ratings: in the first nine months of the year Mediaset channels confirmed their
national leadership in all the time bands among viewers in the 15 to 64 year-old age
range (the commercial target). During the period, Mediaset recorded a 41.4% share
in prime time and 41.6% in the 24 hours.
Canale 5 is Italy’s most popular channel in the commercial target, both in prime time
(23.5%) and in the 24 hours (22.3%). And at 20.8%, the channel confirmed its
position as the leading channel in the 24 hours during the guarantee period (6
September – 9 November 2009).
Spagna
• In the first nine months of 2009 consolidated net revenues generated by the
Telecinco Group came to €432,2 million, compared with €734.9 million in the
same period of the previous year. This result was obviously due to the impact of
the unfavourable trading and financial climate, at both a national and international
level, which in Spain has been particularly dramatic.
• Despite this difficult background, there was a reduction in total costs of 14.8%
compared with the same period of the previous year. This trend was also affected
by the use of risk provisions booked in the first half of the year. Net of these
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measures, the reduction was of 7.8%, thanks to rigorous actions aimed at
containing both scheduling and management costs.
• EBIT for the period came to €82.5 million, compared to €324.3 million in 2008.
• Operating profitability was 19.1% (44.1% in the first nine months of 2008).
• Pre-tax profit came to €58.5 million, compared with €292.4 million the previous
year.
• Net profit amounted to €62,2 million compared with €228.4 million for the first
nine months of 2008.
• TV ratings: Telecinco consolidated its position as Spain’s absolute leader with a
prime time share of 16.8%.
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FORECAST FOR THE FULL YEAR
Despite what is expected to be a slight improvement in the short term, the economic
scenario, as far as advertising investments are concerned in both Italy and Spain, is
expected to remain extremely difficult for the remainder of the year.
In Italy, at the end of the first ten months of the year, gross advertising revenues for
Mediaset channels had recorded a fall of 10.2%, compared with the -10.8% recorded
at the end of nine months.
In the same period, total advertising sales, in other words including other media sold in
concession by the Group, recorded a fall of 9.6% (-10.3% after nine months).
In line with the trends recorded in the second and third quarters, current evidence
suggests that advertising sales in the last two months of 2009, which will be compared
to the most critical period of the previous year, will continue to show an improving
trend compared with the previous nine months of the year.
In the light of such trends, the results at the end of the first nine months, despite
continued efforts to control television costs in recent months, at year end the Group is
expected to post operating and consolidated net profits markedly lower than those of
the previous year.
The executive responsible for the preparation of the Mediaset S.p.A. accounts,
Andrea Goretti, declares that, as per para. 2 art. 154-bis, of the Single Finance Bill,that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to that contained in the company’s books.

Cologno Monzese, 10 November 2009

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