Particularly strong performances from Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and FremantleMedia compensated for significant negative effects such as the slowdown in several advertising markets, the major programme investment for the European football championship 2008 at Groupe M6 in France and restructuring charges at RTL Nederland.

Revenue in the reporting period was stable at EUR 4,052 million (2007: EUR 4,039 million). Stripping out the effects of the portfolio changes, underlying revenue at constant exchange rates came to EUR 4,095 million. The net cash position at 30 September 2008 amounted to EUR 755 million (30 June 2008: EUR 588 million) with an operating cash conversion of 125 per cent (2007: 122 per cent).

TV advertising market conditions were very mixed in the reporting period with Germany and the Netherlands reporting positive growth. Elsewhere, net TV advertising markets were down year-on-year with Spain and France reporting the most severe decline. RTL Group’s operations continued to outperform the markets in many countries, most notably in Germany and France (TV and radio).

The outlook for the full year 2008 remains unchanged: despite the current economic climate and continued low visibility on the advertising markets, RTL Group remains cautiously optimistic about achieving its financial targets in 2008.

For more information, see the related press release.