Quarterly report for Q1 2009

* Includes NOK 12 million in restructuring charges and NOK 6.4 million related to the launch of Recharge

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First quarter revenues fell by 6% to NOK 247.7 million compared to the same quarter last year. The operating result was a loss of NOK 34.2 million in Q1 2009 against a loss of NOK 1.6 million in Q1 2008. Volatile foreign exchange rates have had a negative effect on net financial items.

The result is strongly influenced by the changed macroeconomic circumstances both globally and in Norway during the last year. The decline in revenues is mostly due to continued reduced activity in advertising markets in Norway and internationally during the quarter. The activity in the market for job classifieds has been particularly affected, whilst there is a more moderate decline in revenues from display advertising. There are also large variations between the companies.

Significant restructuring measures to improve profitability were initiated in Q4 2008 and continued in Q1 2009. As a result, Dagens Næringsliv booked restructuring costs of NOK 12 million in Q1 (in addition to the NOK 15 million already included in Q4 2008), mainly related to reductions in headcount. In sum, restructuring measures are expected to have an effect on Group results of above NOK 80 million, with full effect from Q2 2009.

The market positions of the Group’s publications have been maintained in a challenging market and in some areas strengthened. There is significant growth in online traffic (20%-40%) and continued increasing circulation revenues.

The Group’s plans ahead are based on the expectation of further declines in real macroeconomic activity in the coming period. There is also significant uncertainty and lower order reserves than usual.

Results per Business Area

As a result of the growth of the business in recent years NHST Media Group is now organised into four business areas:

• Dagens Næringsliv – the leading Norwegian business newspaper
• Digital & Nordic – digital news and information services in the Nordic region
• Global – international news and information products
• Nautical Charts – maritime charts and information

From this quarter onwards the Group will report according to these four areas.

Dagens Næringsliv

The business area Dagens Næringsliv is the leading Norwegian business newspaper.

Revenues decreased by 14% in the quarter to NOK 116,7 million compared to NOK 126,2 million in Q1 2008. The operating result was a loss of NOK 10.8 compared to profits of NOK 10.8 million in Q1 2008. The decline in revenues was due to lower advertising revenues. Circulation revenues increased relative to Q1 2008. The operating result for the quarter was strongly influenced by the decrease in revenues, as well as NOK 13 million in restructuring cost.

Digital & Nordic

The business area Digital & Nordic consists of the companies DN Nye Medier, Smartcom, TDN, Newsdesk and Europower.

Revenues increased by 16% to MNOK 33.2 compared to MNOK 28.6 in Q1 2008. The operating result for the quarter was a loss of MNOK 2.2 against a loss of MNOK 3.4 in 2008. The business area is constituted by the companies DN Nye Medier, Europower, Smartcom, TDN and Newsdesk. The revenue growth during the quarter is primarily due to the acquisition of Newsdesk in the middle of last year, whilst the improvement in the operating result is due to reduced cost in several of the companies.

DN Nye Medier – the publisher of DN.no – is the largest company within the business area and had revenues of NOK 13.0 million compared to NOK 13.7 million in Q1 2008. The operating result was a loss of NOK 1.4 million compared to NOK 2.0 million in Q1 2008. The figures include DN Søk and DNtv which were merged with DN Nye Medier from the start of this year. Overall traffic on DN.no has increased by 40% compared to the same quarter last year, whilst traffic on the front page is up by 49%. Revenues have been negatively affected by a weak job classifieds market. The improved operating result is due to cost reductions implemented towards the end of 2008.

Global

The business area Global encompasses the world’s leading newspapers and online news services within four industry segments: TradeWinds (shipping), Upstream (oil & gas) IntraFish (seafood) and – newly launched – Recharge (renewable energy).

Revenues declined by 10% to NOK 58.2 million against NOK 64.7 million in Q1 2008. The operating result was a loss of NOK 11.8 million, compared to NOK 3.1 million in Q1 2008. The decrease in revenue is largely attributable to reduced advertising revenues, in particular for Intrafish, as well as somewhat stagnating circulation growth. The quarterly result was affected by the decline in revenues. The result was also affected by the launch of Recharge in January 2009, which had an operating result of minus NOK 6.4 million in the quarter and has experienced weak revenue development in initial months due to the general business climate.

Within the business area, Tradewinds experienced a revenue decline of 5 % to NOK 18.1 in the quarter, whilst operating profits were NOK 0.5 million compared to NOK 1.0 million in Q1 2008. Upstream revenues declined by 1% to NOK 18.3 million, whilst operating profits were NOK 0.1 million compared to NOK 0.7 million in Q1 2008. Intrafish saw its revenue drop by 24% to NOK 20.5 million in the first quarter of 2009 and the operating result was a loss of NOK 5.1 million compared to NOK 3.1 million in Q1 2008. A significant decrease in advertising revenues for IntraFish, particularly in the Norwegian market, has led to an increased loss, despite significant reductions in cost. The situation has however improved during the quarter, in part due to further cost reductions.

Nautical Charts (Nautisk Forlag)

The business area Nautical Charts is the company Nautisk Forlag and maintains the Group’s tradition as a maritime chart supplier. The position as the leading supplier in Norway has provided the basis for building an internationally leading nautical chart business.

Revenues increased by 20% to NOK 31.3 million compared to NOK 26.1 million in Q1 2008. The operating profit was NOK 2.6 million in the quarter compared to NOK 1.3 million in Q1 2008. The increase in revenues is primarily a result of an increased supply and sales of maps from British Admirality. In addition, the on board navigational information service system, Neptune, continues to grow.

Business Prospects

The difficult macroeconomic conditions continue to influence NHST Media Group- The Group has implemented a number of measures to adjust the operation to more challenging market conditions and continuously evaluates the need for further measures. The strong market-positions in Norway and internationally have been maintained and provide the basis for future development.

In order to solidify the company’s equity capital and operation the Board has proposed to the Annual General Meeting a rights issue in the company and the Board has today sent out an own press release about the proposed rights issue that can be found on www.nhst.no.