Il Sole 24 ORE S.p.A.: Board of Directors approves Interim Report on Operations at 31 March 2023

Press Release

Pursuant to Consob Resolution 11971/99 as amended

Il Sole 24 ORE S.p.A.: Board of Directors approves Interim Report on Operations at 31 March 2023

Improved performance compared to Q1 2022 across all economic and

financial indicators

Key consolidated figures of the 24 ORE Group:

• EBITDA positive at Euro 5.4 million (positive Euro 1.8 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 3.6 million
• EBIT positive at Euro 1.6 million (negative Euro 2.0 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 3.6 million
• Net profit of Euro 0.4 million (loss of Euro 3.5 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 3.8 million

Key consolidated figures of the 24 ORE Group net of non-recurring income and expenses:

• EBITDA positive at Euro 3.2 million (positive Euro 1.8 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 1.4 million
• EBIT negative at Euro 0.6 million (negative Euro 2.0 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 1.4 million
• Net loss of Euro 1.8 million (loss of Euro 3.5 million as at 31 March 2022), an improvement of 1.7 million

Consolidated revenues amounted to Euro 48.9 million, up Euro 1.6 million (+3.3%) compared to 31 March 2022

The net financial position was a negative Euro 34.7 million, an improvement of Euro 9.1 million compared to the negative Euro 43.8 million as at 31 December 2022

Consolidated shareholders' equity of Euro 16.2 million compared to Euro 15.9 million as at 31 December 2022

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Milan, 10 May 2023 - The Board of Directors of Il Sole 24 ORE S.p.A. met today under the chairmanship of Edoardo Garrone and approved the Interim Report on Operations as at 31 March 2023 of the 24 ORE Group.

Key summary figures of the 24 ORE Group

The 24 ORE Group closed Q1 2023 with a positive EBITDA of Euro 5.4 million, a positive EBIT of Euro 1.6 million and a net profit of Euro 0.4 million. Shareholders' equity amounted to Euro 16.2 million, an increase of Euro 0.2 million compared to shareholders' equity in the consolidated financial statements at 31 December 2022, which amounted to Euro 15.9 million.

The following are the Group's key financial figures at 31 March 2023 derived from the consolidated financial statements:

KEY CONSOLIDATED FIGURES OF THE 24 ORE GROUP

Euro millions	Q1 2023	Q1 2022
Revenues	48.9		47.3
Gross operating margin (EBITDA)	5.4		1.8
Operating profit (loss) (EBIT)	1.6		(2.0)
Profit (loss) before taxes	0.4		(3.1)
Net profit (loss)	0.4		(3.5)
	31.03.2023		31.12.2022
Non-current assets	106.0		114.0
Current assets	147.0		131.7
Assets available for sale	5.2		-
Total assets	258.1		245.8
Group equity	16.2		15.9
Minority interests	-		-
Total Equity	16.2		15.9
Non-current liabilities	104.7		107.4
Current liabilities	137.3		122.4
Liabilities available for sale	-		-
Total liabilities	242.0		229.8
Total equity and liabilities	258.1		245.8

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"Rapporto Databank Editoria

Market context

The macroeconomic and geopolitical scenario is characterised by elements of uncertainty such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a sharp rise in inflation, rising interest rates, the residual effects of Covid-19 and rising commodity and energy costs.

Preliminary ISTAT estimates indicate GDP growth of 0.8% in 2023 (source: ISTAT - Press release Preliminary estimate of GDP - Q1 2023 - 28 April 2023).

ADS data for major national newspapers indicate a decline in total circulation of print copies added to digital copies of -5.2% for the period January-February 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, with a decline in circulation of the print version of -12.3% offset in part by an increase in digital circulation of +10.0% (source: ADS data processing January - February 2023).

The most recent listening figures for radio refer to the year 2022 and recorded a total of 33,809,000 listeners on the average day, essentially equal to 2021 (-0.1%.Source: RadioTER 2021-2022).

In the January-February 2023 period, the System reference market closed at +10.9% (net of local newspaper advertising): newspapers came in at +9.7% (net local), magazines at +2.2%, radio at +16.0% and digital at +10.7% (source: Nielsen January-February2023 vs. 2022).

For 2023, the forecasts from the end of the previous year (2022) for the professional publishing sector indicated a recovery in the sector's overall turnover thanks to the expected reforms, the new boost to digitalization involving professionals and companies, the investments established in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for companies and Public Administration and indirectly for professionals in their role as consultants. Specifically, tax publishing was expected to grow by +4.5% and legal publishing by +2.6% (source:

Professionale" - Cerved S.p.A, December 2022).

In terms of media in 2023, the current trends already in place do not seem to change: overall, electronic publishing is expected to grow by +6.3%, driven by online and digital contents (+6.8%), and management software by +5.4%, which will see an increase in the integration of digital publishing content in management software (source: "Rapporto Databank Editoria Professionale"- Cerved S.p.A., December 2022).

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Consolidated results as at 31 March 2023

Key summary figures of the 24 ORE Group net of non-recurring income and expenses

Below are the Group's key profit and loss (net of non-recurring income and expenses), financial position and cash flow figures for the first quarter of 2023:

KEY CONSOLIDATED FIGURES NET OF NON-RECURRING INCOME AND EXPENSES

Euro millions	Q1 2023	Q1 2022
Revenues	48.9	47.3
EBITDA net of non-recurring income and expenses	3.2	1.8
EBIT net of non-recurring income and expenses	(0.6)	(2.0)
Profit (loss) before taxes net of non-recurring income and expenses	(1.8)	(3.1)
Net profit (loss) net of non-recurring income and expenses	(1.8)	(3.5)
	31.03.2023	31.12.2022
Equity	16.2	15.9
Net financial position	(34.7)	(43.8)

Revenue trend

The macroeconomic and geopolitical scenario is characterised by elements of uncertainty such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a sharp rise in inflation, rising interest rates, the residual effects of Covid-19 and rising commodity and energy costs. In this context, the 24 ORE Group recorded growth driven by the constant development of products in its Professional Services and Training area, the robust performance of its Culture area and advertising sales, the authoritativeness and high quality of its content and effective marketing policies in all areas. In Q1 2023, the 24 ORE Group reported consolidated revenues of Euro 48.9 million (Euro 47.3 million in Q1 2022), up 3.3% or Euro +1.6 million compared to the same period of 2022.

In particular, during the period advertising revenues increased by Euro 0.2 million (+1.1% compared to Q1 2022) to Euro 17.6 million, whereas publishing revenues decreased slightly, by Euro 0.1 million (-0.3% from Euro 24.5 million in Q1 2022 to Euro 24.4 million in 2023): the lower revenues generated by the sale of the printed newspaper were largely offset by the growth in revenues from digital subscriptions to the newspaper and the site www.ilsole24ore.com. Other revenues increased by Euro 1.4 million (+26.5% from Euro 5.4 million in Q1 2022 to Euro 6.9 million in Q1 2023), mainly due to higher revenues from the Culture area and the Professional Services and Training area, in relation to the good performance of the most innovative products and resumption of the training business.

The main dynamics that characterized consolidated revenues are:

• circulation revenues of the newspaper (print + digital) amounted to Euro 10.2 million,

down by Euro 0.1 million (-1.3%) compared to Q1 2022. Circulation revenues of the

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digital newspaper amounted to Euro 4.9 million, up by Euro 0.2 million (+3.9%) compared to 2022. Circulation revenues of the print newspaper amounted to Euro 5.2 million, down Euro 0.3 million (-5.7%) compared to 2022. The agency Radiocor Plus reported revenues of Euro 1.8 million, up by +9.0%;

• the Group's advertising revenues of Euro 17.6 million were up 1.1% on Q1 2022.
  The concessionaire is maintaining its position, consolidating its market share thanks to the development of special initiatives, increasingly recognized by companies as an effective vehicle of values and a means of building loyalty with its audience. The reference market recorded growth of 10.9% in the first two months of 2023 (source: Nielsen January/February 2023).
  Revenues from the Events area amounted to Euro 0.5 million in Q1 2023, substantially in line with the same period of 2022. Noteworthy initiatives included the four "Road to Trento" international events organised in collaboration with Italian Embassies abroad in the run-up to the next edition of the Trento Festival of Economics scheduled from 25 to 28 May 2023;
• revenues from electronic publishing in the Professional Services and Training area amounted to Euro 9.6 million, up by Euro 0.1 million (+1.4%) vs. Q1 2022 by virtue of the renewal of the product portfolio and the sales network launched in previous years. In addition, the Valore 24 software and Partner 24 ORE networking product lines contributed a total of Euro 1.8 million to area revenues (+21.0%; Euro +0.3 million over the same period of the previous year);
• Culture Area revenues of Euro 3.9 million were up Euro 0.6 million (+19.5%) on Q1 2022 due to the strong performance of exhibitions during the period.

Circulation (paper + digital) of the daily newspaper Il Sole 24 ORE from January to February 2023 totalled 132,584 average copies per day (-5.1% compared to January-February 2022, a result essentially in line with the market, which declined -5.2%). Specifically, the average daily print circulation reported to ADS for the period January-February 2023 is 47,107 copies (- 11.9% compared to the same period of 2022). Digital circulation reported to ADS was 85,477 average copies per day (-0.9% compared to the period January-February 2022). Newsstand sales for January - February 2023 (source: ADS, Individual print copy sales) were down 10.0% compared to the same period of the previous year, as the market contracted in the same channel by 11.9%.

The Group also asked an independent third-party company to express an opinion on the effective application of the appropriate procedures adopted for the calculation of the Total Paid For Circulation ("TPFC", i.e. the total number of daily paid sales of Il Sole 24 ORE in all markets through print and digital channels) at 31 March 2023; on conclusion of its checks, the independent third-party company issued an unqualified Assurance Report (ISAE 3000 - Limited assurance) on 5 May 2023.

Based on these procedures, the average Total Paid For Circulation for the period January-March 2023 was determined to be 174,838 copies (+9.4% compared to 2022), including all multiple digital copies sold, but not reportable as circulated for ADS purposes and therefore not included in the relevant statement.

In Q1 2023, the portal www.ilsole24ore.com recorded a daily average of 1.1 million unique browsers, down 18.7% compared to the average for Q1 2022, characterised by greater demand for information regarding the conflict in Ukraine (source: Mapp Intelligence, formerly

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