Kathimerini posts strong Q1 profit growth
The Kathimerini publishing company posted a significant rise in turnover, profits and total assets on a consolidated basis in the first quarter of 2002, year-on-year, mainly due to successful investment in shipping through its Naxos Island Maritime subsidiary. Net after-tax profits rose to 2.36 million euros, corresponding to pretax profits of 3.63 million. Turnover rose 57 percent from the same period last year to reach 14.77 million euros. Consolidated net first-quarter income rose more than fourfold, reaching 2.71 million euros, against 0.66 million in the same period last year. Revenues, expenses, depreciation and profits of Naxos Island Maritime were booked according to International Accounting Standards. As a result of the investment in shipping in April last year, the group’s total assets were 63 percent higher on March 31, 2002, at 181.69 million euros, from a year earlier. Consolidated shareholders’ equity stood at 111 million euros, against 98.47 million on March 31, 2001. The net after-tax income of Naxos Island Maritime in the period from April 6, 2001 to March 31, 2001 was 8.29 million euros. The turnover of the parent company showed a marginal rise despite a negative climate for the media sector as a whole, reaching 8.51 million euros from 8.49 million a year earlier. Losses in advertising revenues were offset by those from the state-of-the-art printing installations at Koropi, a 32.87 million euro investment, and newspaper sales. However, under the current tax system, the tax-free ceiling for first-time home purchases by single taxpayers is the same as that for first-time property inheritances, which means the proposed tax change brings no benefits to taxpayers.
