Revenues, Profit Up at MTG

STOCKHOLM, July 24: Second quarter revenues at the Modern
Times Group rose 10 percent to SEK 2.8 billion ($426.7 million), delivering a
profit of SEK 362 million ($54.3 million), a 4-percent year-on-year gain.

For the quarter, Viasat Broadcasting’s revenues increased 9
percent to SEK 2.3 billion, with an operating income of SEK 535 million.

Hans-Holger
Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, noted: “The group has delivered
another quarter of double digit sales growth and a stable margin of 19 percent,
at the same time as we are investing in new channels, technologies and products
in order to generate sustained organic growth in the future. We have also
acquired a number of new businesses, which are impacting on our results for the
first time. The Scandinavian free-to-air business has returned to growth and
with a higher margin, following a strong performance by our Swedish operations,
whilst our Nordic pay platform reported healthy growth and stable margins, and
our East European businesses continued to demonstrate overall sales momentum
and margins above 20 percent.”

He continued: “The operational objectives to be achieved by
the end of 2011 are for the group to achieve net sales of SEK 20 billion and
generate more than 10 percent organic annual sales growth; for the current
Viasat Broadcasting Central and East European operations to generate net sales
of SEK 5 billion; for the consolidated Viasat Broadcasting businesses to
achieve an operating margin of over 20 percent; and for the current Viasat
Broadcasting Central and East European operations, including CTC Media Inc., to
generate higher combined operating profits than the rest of Viasat
Broadcasting.”

Albrecht concluded: “The media landscape is evolving
rapidly. Our ‘media house’ approach, with an increasing channel presence across
a wide range of distribution platforms and markets, positions us well to
benefit from this change moving forward. We are also committed to further
acquisition-led expansion of our footprint and integrated market presence. The
objectives that we have set indicate MTG’s realistic ambition as one of
Europe’s fastest growing and most profitable entertainment broadcasters.”