European broadcaster RTL said sales dropped 11 per cent in the first quarter due to a continued TV advertising slump and core profit shrunk more than 50 per cent on restructuring and start up costs.

RTL, owned by media giant Bertelsmann, reported that revenue in the first three months of the year fell to E1.188 billion and EBITA dropped 53.7 per cent to E87 million. The Luxembourg-based company cited “decreases across all profit centres, restructuring costs of E9 million and higher start up losses of E18 million mainly following the first-time consolidation of Alpha Media Group in Greece” as reasons for the steep decline in profit.

RTL said it still could not give a precise outlook for the entire year and said it expected profitability level will be “considerably” down compared to 2008.

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