Spain's top media group Prisa, publisher of the leading daily newspaper El Pais, saw its third-quarter net profits plunge by 77.7% from a year earlier to €6.83 (£5.9m).
The company said earnings fell due to exceptional items, including the sale in 2010 of its television channel Cuatro to Telecinco, owned by Italy's Mediaset.
"The comparison of third quarter earnings is affected by the fact that Cuatro ceased to be part of the consolidation in 2011 and by extraordinary items recorded under revenue and expenses in the same period both in 2011 and 2010," said Prisa.
Net profits for the first nine months of 2011 were down by 80.4% to €17.93m (£15.6m)
Prisa said that its pay-TV operations performed strongly and revenues from educational publishing rose in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where they increased by 21% in the first nine months of 2001.
In January this year, Prisa announced 2,500 job losses worldwide, equal to 18% of its total staff spread across Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
Source: Expatica
