Market announcement

Title

AS Ekspress Grupp: Consolidated Interim Report for the First Quarter of 2018

Message

AS Ekspress Grupp presents its Consolidated Interim Report for the First Quarter
of 2018. The same is available on NASDAQ Tallinn Stock Exchange's web site, as
well on issuer's home page www.egrupp.ee (http://www.egrupp.ee)

This  is a centennial year from the birth  of all three Baltic countries. In the
first  quarter,  the  editorial  departments  focused  on  covering  the  events
dedicated  to 100th anniversaries of the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of
Lithuania.  Many different projects were implemented  and the events held in the
three  countries were extensively  covered. In Lithuania,  the celebrations were
rounded  up with  a major  conference organised  by Delfi Lithuania in February,
which concluded the social project "Idea for Lithuania", selecting three ground-
breaking ideas that will be implemented for the benefit of the Lithuanian state.
In  Estonia, several Arvo Pärt music concerts were organised, and in addition in
Lithuania "The Day of Best Lessons" targeted at schoolchildren was held that was
attended  by  several  tens  of  thousands  of  students.  Organising events and
activities  under  our  various  brands  is  becoming  an increasingly important
activity  across the entire Group. This new revenue type is a good complement to
our  media  companies,  which  have  traditionally  "lived  on"  advertising and
distribution revenue.

Besides  all of the above, we have not  forgotten our role as a watchdog for the
society,  and we continue to provide our readers with the best and most reliable
content.  This  is  proven  by  the  record  number  of  prizes  awarded  to our
journalists  this year by  the Estonian Newspaper  Association. Our journalistic
activities in Latvia also received several awards.

In  March, the Competition Authority issued  a license to restructure Ajakirjade
Kirjastus,  the  Estonian  largest  magazine  publisher.  One part of Ajakirjade
Kirjastus  will be  merged with  the Group's  subsidiary Ekspress  Media and the
other part with the joint venture SLÕhtuleht. The merger process has started and
should be completed by midsummer. The main purpose of the change is to provide a
better  online  output  for  the  content  of  paper  publications of Ajakirjade
Kirjastus  and to support the collaboration of publications with existing strong
online  platforms. In 2018, it is  not reasonable to start  building a new large
web  centre, but to  provide readers with  high-quality content in collaboration
with  existing  platforms,  i.e.  Delfi  and  Õhtuleht.  No  currently published
magazines are planned to be closed during the merger.

The  expansion of  the Group  has also  taken place  in the direction of digital
outdoor  advertising.  In  January,  we  acquired  a  company  in Tartu, and, in
addition,  have  grown  organically  by  installing  new  screens in Estonia and
Latvia.  Compared to the year before, the network of our digital outdoor screens
has grown exponentially both in Latvia and in Estonia.

The  acquisition  of  a  majority  holding  in Adnet, an advertising network and
provider  of target group-based  advertising sales solutions,  last November has
together  with Delfis increased the Group's  online revenues and its share among
total revenue. The share of the Group's digital revenues has increased to 35% of
total  revenue. Delfi  Lithuania in  particular increased  revenue in  the first
quarter  (25%). In  Latvia, due  to the  local banking  crisis and change in the
pricing  policy of a major media monopoly, the advertising market is temporarily
stagnating, resulting in somewhat lower revenue than in the previous year.

We continue to invest in people and software solutions to enable new products to
enter  the market and to  further develop and enhance  our digital platforms and
online  products. We are looking for synergies between paper products and online
output.

The  situation is  complicated for  the Group's  printing house,  which is under
strong  price pressures due  to falling circulations.  Our strength remains very
good  service and the quality  of work which has  made it possible to expand our
service to the rest of Europe, but which will take longer than expected to grow.
The  decline in circulations and the increase in labour costs have also affected
the results of our home delivery company.

The Group's revenues for the first quarter increased by 11% to EUR 16.4 million,
but  EBITDA decreased and  amounted to EUR  0.7 million. More detailed financial
information about each group company is provided on interim report pages 14-15.
The  main reason for the decrease in EBITDA is the lower-than-expected result of
printing services and the difficult situation of the home delivery company.

For the rest of the year, we are looking forward to a stabilisation of the
printing services segment as well as to the smooth integration of Ajakirjade
Kirjastus with Ekspress Meedia and Õhtuleht. In the business line of digital
outdoor screens, the plan is to expand and take stronger position in the market.


    Additional information:
         Mari-Liis Rüütsalu
         Chairman of the Management Board
         GSM: +372 512 2591
         e-mail: [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])

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