Trader Media East sales revenues in Russia contract 11.4% in H1
MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - Trader Media East Ltd. (TME), which has the publishing house Pronto-Moskva in Russia, made $42.6 million in sales revenues in the country in H1, an 11.4% year-on-year decrease.
Adjusted revenue, including income from ongoing operations and as expressed in rubles, was down 10.4%, a company statement says.
In Moscow, TME earnings were 9.1% lower year-on-year at $20.5 million. Revenue made elsewhere in the country fell 13.5% to $22.1 million.
Income made in the Commonwealth of Independent States generally was up 1.8% at $8.8 million.
Russia and the CIS countries where TME has a presence account for 94.2% of the company's sales revenues. TME sold its business in Slovenia in April. Revenue in Eastern Europe was down 31.4% at $3.2 million in H1.
A contraction of the market for print advertising was anticipated, but proved to be quicker than TME had planned for, the company said. Earnings by digital assets in Russia and the CIS increased 21.3%. TME expects that by the end of 2015 digital revenues will reach 50% of their total sales revenues.
The company said it is seeing a slowdown on the Russian advertising market, mainly in real estate and automotive sales segments. "Although we expect improvement in the second half, the year is expected to be difficult for print advertising," the company said.
TME is controlled by the Turkish publishing house Hurriyet. A while back, TME made the strategic decision not to invest further in the print business and shuttered printshops in eleven Russian regions. It also put a stop to the printing of twenty-five unprofitable publications. TME's priority is the development of its online operations, the portals irr.ru (From hand to hand) and job.ru.