Cost cuts lift ProSieben results



ProSiebenSat.1 has cited recent cost-cutting as the reason it managed to increase profits despite the ongoing advertising recession. It recorded first-half recurring profit of €295m compared with €292m a year earlier.

The German free-to-air and pay-TV broadcast group said that it had shaved €81.7m from its operating costs of €495.8m through the period. The company is still feeling the effects of the economic downturn and said that free TV advertising revenues were down 13.9% in the three months to end-June. Management reaffirmed its plan to cut €100m of costs over 2009, but said that “beyond that, however, the low visibility in the market makes any projections impossible.”