Quarterly report for Q2 2009

* Incl. MNOK 16 restructuring expenses in DN, MNOK 11.6 related to the start-up of Recharge and non-recurring expenses related to moving the head office in Oslo

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Revenues during the second quarter fell by 7% compared to the same quarter last year to MNOK 271.5. The before tax profit profit for the quarter was MNOK 16.0 against a profit of MNOK 38.1 in the same quarter last year. Accumulated, the half year revenues fell by 7% compared to MNOK 519.2 last year. The result for the half year was a loss of MNOK 18.2 against a profit of MNOK 36.5.

The result continues to be strongly affected by the demanding macroeconomic situation in Norway and globally compared to the same period last year. The revenue and profit reduction is the result of a continuing reduced advertising market in Norway and internationally during the quarter. The Group's advertising income in the half year was reduced by 26% compared to the first half of last year.

The development in revenues is relatively volatile and there are variations between the companies. The international publications have increasingly felt the consequences of the global recession during the quarter. The result for the half year has been affected by restructuring costs, the start-up of Recharge and non-recurring costs related to moving the Group head office in Oslo.

The market position of the Group's publications has been maintained in a demanding market and in some areas strengthened. The Group has increased circulation revenues by 5% compared to the first half year of last year. The traffic on the Group's websites has grown by between 20% and 40% compared to 2008 (unique users).

In June the Group completed a successful rights issue and brought in MNOK 50 in new shareholders' equity (gross).

The Group's continuing plans are based on expectations of continued uncertain markets and revenue development with lower than usual order reserves. The focus on cost control and savings will be maintained. The costs programme with an annual effect of MNOK 80 will have full effect from Q1 2010 and further measures are in progress.

Internationally, the recession has led to intensified focus on the newspaper industry's business models and several major industry players have recently announced a transition to the increased use of online payment models for their online news properties. Most of NHST Media Group's news services online are already user-paid and over time the Group envisages an increasing potential to charge for editorial products online.

Results by business area

Since the beginning of this year the NHST Media Group reports in accordance with four business areas organised according to their main activities.

Dagens Næringsliv

Dagens Næringsliv is the leading Norwegian business newspaper.

Revenues during the quarter fell by 13 % to MNOK 139.7 compared to MNOK 161.2 in the same quarter last year. As in the first quarter the reduction in revenue was a result of the fall in advertising income, whereas circulation revenue increased compared to the same quarter last year. The operating result for the quarter was a profit of MNOK 22.7 against MNOK 35.1 last year. Accumulated for the half year revenues fell by 14% to MNOK 266.0 compared to the same period last year and the operating result was a profit of MNOK 11.1 against a profit of MNOK 45.9 last year. The result was affected by restructuring costs of MNOK 16 during the first half-year.

Digital & Nordic

The Digital & Nordic business area covers digital news and information services in the Nordic region and comprises the companies DN Nye Medier, Smartcom, TDN, Newsdesk and Europower.

Revenues increased by 6% to MNOK 30.1 compared to MNOK 28.5 in the same quarter last year. The operating result was a loss of MNOK 2.2 against a loss of MNOK 2.2 during the same quarter last year. Half year revenues increased by 11% to MNOK 63.3, while the operating result was a loss of MNOK 4.4 against a loss of MNOK 5.6 last year. The growth in revenues during the quarter and the half year is primarily a result of the acquisition of Newsdesk in the middle of last year.

DN Nye Medier –the publisher of www.DN.no – is the business area's largest operation and had revenues of MNOK 10.7 against MNOK 13.2 in the same quarter last year. The operating result was a loss of MNOK 1.1 against a loss of MNOK 0.9 last year. These figures include DN Søk and DNtv which were merged with DN Nye Medier from the beginning of 2009. The traffic (unique users) has increased by 26% compared to the same quarter last year. For the half year revenues fell by 12% to MNOK 23.7 and the result was a loss of MNOK 2.5 against a loss of MNOK 2.9 last year. Revenues continued to be negatively affected particularly by a weaker employment advertising market.

Global

The Global business area embraces leading international news and information products within four industry segments: TradeWinds (shipping), Upstream (oil and gas), IntraFish (seafood) and - recently launched – Recharge (renewable energy).

Revenues during the quarter increased by 1% to MNOK 76.1 compared to MNOK 75.4 in the same quarter last year. The operating result was a profit of MNOK 3.5 against a profit of MNOK 7.8 during the same quarter last year. During the first half year income fell by 4% to MNOK 134.2 compared to last year, whilst the operating result was a loss of MNOK 8.2 against a profit of MNOK 4.7 last year. The result was affected by the start-up of Recharge at the beginning of the year, which, with weak revenue development so far, has an operating loss of MNOK 11.6 for the first half year, in addition to reduced advertising revenue for TradeWinds, Upstream and IntraFish compared to the previous year.

Within the business area, TradeWinds’ revenues increased during the quarter by 2% to MNOK 23.1, whilst the operating result was MNOK 4.0 against MNOK 4.9 in the same quarter last year. For Upstream, revenues fell by 10% to MNOK 21.0, whilst the operating result was MNOK 2.7 against MNOK 4.8 in the same quarter last year. For IntraFish, revenues increased by 3% to MNOK 25.6 and the operating result was a profit of MNOK 1.3 against a loss of MNOK 1.7 in the same quarter last year. The website www.FBFI.no will be converted to a payment service from 01.09.09

Nautical Charts

The Nautical Charts business area is the company Nautisk Forlag and it maintains the Group's traditions as a nautical chart supplier in Norway and internationally.

Revenues fell by 2% to MNOK 27.2 compared to MNOK 27.7 in the same quarter last year. Operating profits were MNOK 0.9 against MNOK 2.9 last year. During the half year revenues increased by 9% to MNOK 58.5 whilst the operating result was a profit of MNOK 3.5 against MNOK 4.2 in the same period last year.

Prospects

The difficult macroeconomic conditions have continued to affect the NHST Media Group and continuing uncertain conditions are expected during the second half of the year. The Group has initiated comprehensive measures to adapt the operation to a demanding market situation and continuously assesses the need for further measures. The strong market positions both in Norway and internationally have been maintained.