Scandi ad market lifts MTG’s first-quarter profits


An uptick in the Scandinavian TV advertising market has provided a financial boost to MTG’s free-TV business and boosted overall earnings for the first three months of 2011.


MTG CEO Hans Holger Albrecht said: “The Scandinavian TV advertising markets have continued their strong development with price increases in each country, which enabled us to generate 11% sales growth at constant exchange rates and a 25% operating margin for our free-TV business.

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The ad markets in emerging territories are, meanwhile, not growing at the same rate, Albrecht added. He said: “The recovery in advertising spending in the emerging markets is lagging and, with the exception of the Baltics, we are yet to see a return to sustained market growth, but we are taking market share in almost all of our operating territories.”
The company reported first-quarter revenues of SEK3.1 billion (€347 million), a 10% year-on-year increase and pre-tax profits of SEK671 million, a 54% year-on-year increase.