Quarterly report first quarter 2004

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General

The Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende (NHST) Group’s profit before tax for the first quarter (Q1) amounted to NOK 7.8 m as against NOK 1.4 m for the corresponding quarter of last year. The increase is due to the fact that the Group’s publications have for a long time strengthened the Group’s competitiveness, and that the general economic situation has improved. This particularly comes to light in NHST's turnover is up 18 per cent for the quarter. This is better than expected and markedly beyond the general growth in the market.

The biggest growth is in income from advertisements, but circulation revenues are also markedly up. This is the eighth increase in the operating profit in a row since summer 2002. Dagens Næringsliv has a quarterly increase in turnover for the first time since the first quarter 2001.

US dollars (USD) are down by around 10 per cent in the quarter as compared to the corresponding period last year. This means that the international publications that are growing and that are largely invoiced in USD, have a correspondingly higher growth in USD, and it is in USD that one can best read the trend in market share and the competitive power.

Publication by publication:

Dagens Næringsliv (DN) experienced a NOK 12 m growth in the quarter’s operating income, or 14 per cent, to NOK 98.8 m. March in particular saw considerable growth in advertisements within the business-to-business segment and for more consumer-oriented advertisements. The increase is relatively highest within the IT/Telecoms and Banking/Finance (financial services) segments. The circulation and circulation revenues are also rising. March saw MMI’s readership figure for MBL, the organisation for the industry, for 2003. There was a nine per cent growth in the number of DN daily readers, to 297,000. The Saturday edition had a corresponding growth to approximately 330,000 readers. DN made the biggest jump in its readership of all the Norwegian newspapers. DN’s operating margin for the quarter was 13 per cent, which is considered to be satisfactory. Work is going on to develop DN further, and on 19 May, for instance, the first edition of a monthly specialist magazine aimed at people’s private finances will be launched. DN is expected to continue making progress in the coming quarter.

TradeWinds’ turnover grew from NOK 14,1 m to NOK 16,8 m, or approximately 20 per cent. The growth is primarily due to the successful shipping conference in Shanghai in February with its large number of visitors. However, both advertisement and circulation revenues have increased. The official readership relative to Lloyds List, the competitor, shows that TradeWind’s lead in the number of fully paying readers is increasing. Trade Winds’ operating expenses have increased as much as the operating income and this is due to expenses related to the conference, increased distribution expenses for the newspaper and expenses related to the relaunching of tradewinds.no charged to expenses, and new software for the editors’ desk. ”New ” TradeWinds.no was launched on 19 March 2004 and builds on the same platform as dn.no. The progress TradeWinds is making is expected to continue in the coming quarter

Upstream has a growth in turnover of approximately 8 per cent to NOK 1.0 m. This increase is a result of a growth in advertisements of almost 30 per cent, approximately 40 per cent in USD, whereas there is a decline of around eight per cent in the circulation revenues, which is solely due to the lower rate of exchange for USD. Circulation revenues still make up about 60 per cent of total income. The circulation has risen to its highest ever level, with more than 5,500 subscribers. Operating expenses are also up and this is primarily due to increased distribution costs. The operating profit is at last year’s level. Upstream is expected to enjoy continued success – income from advertisements is particularly expected to rise, and with time, so are circulation revenues.

Intrafish Media has a turnover of NOK 9.8 m. The operating loss has been reduced to NOK 1.8 m. March was a particularly good month for advertisements, and a better economic situation is noticeable for several major fishery and seafood companies. The growth in turnover is biggest for the global part of Intrafish Media. The situation for orders coming in for the coming months is good. Intrafish Media’s loss is expected to be reduced through the year as a result of growth in turnover and good cost control.

Nautisk Forlag’s turnover has increased by 88 per cent to NOK 17.2 m and is now the Group’s second largest company in terms of size. The increase is due to organic growth and the effect of the acquisition of Navicharts in 2003. The operating profit has more than doubled to NOK 1.9 m. Nautisk Forlag is now one of the world’s three largest distributors of maritime charts. In the first quarter it won a major contract with two of the world’s largest Shipowning companies, World Wide Shipping (incl. Bergesen) and Teekay. This contract is estimated to become operative in the second half of 2004. Nautisk Forlag is expected to have strong growth in turnover and operating profit in the second quarter as well

DN Nye Medier has a 40 per cent growth in turnover, which is considered to be in the upper echelon of the trend in the industry. The growth in traffic is slightly less than 20 per cent. The growth in turnover and the stable level of operating expenses has led to the operating loss having been halved to NOK – 1.2 m for the period. Dn.no is expected to continue improving and to enjoy a profit in the second quarter

TDN Finans’ development is fairly stable with some growth underlying, and some improvement is expected in the coming quarters.

Europower has some growth in its operating income, to NOK – 1.6 m. The growth is due to the launching of the monthly newspapers that is distributed along with DN. As a result of Increased expenses for the newspaper, expenses have also increased making the operating result on a level with that of last year. It is expected that the increase in turnover will augment as the monthly newspaper becomes established in the market, and that this will mean an improvement in the operating profit in the coming quarters.

Conculsion:

The first quarter turned out to be somewhat better than expected. There is expected to be Continued improvement, and that this will be qualified through a satisfactory number of orders coming in in the coming quarter. After that, things are more uncertain. If the improved economic situation continues, the strong competitive power combined with good cost management sh ould contribute towards further improvement in the results.

Oslo, 21 April 2004

The Board of Directors of AS Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende