Press Release: Results at 30 September 2018 approved

Strong growth results in the nine months 2018[1]

Consolidated revenues totalling EUR 713.3 million[2], stable on a like-for-like basis (net of IFRS 15)

Revenues from digital activities totalling EUR 112,2 million, up 15.9% compared to September 2017

EBITDA of EUR 101.8 million

Net profit of EUR 52.1 million (more than doubled compared to 2017)

Net financial debt decreased to EUR 215.9 million (EUR -71.5 million compared to 31 December 2017)

2018 targets confirmed

EBITDA and Net Cash Flow on the rise

Net financial debt of less than EUR 200 million.

Milan, 9 November 2018 - The Board of Directors of RCS MediaGroup met today under the chairmanship of Urbano Cairo to examine and approve the consolidated results at 30 September 2018.

Consolidated Figures (EUR million)	30/09/2018	30/09/2017
Consolidated revenue3	713.3	657.7
EBITDA	101.8	84.4
EBIT	77.3	47.1
Net loss	52.1	19.8

Balance sheet Figures (EUR million)	30/09/2018	31/12/2017
Net financial debt	215.9	287.4

The Group's consolidated net revenue at 30 September 2018 was EUR 713.3 million. On a like-for-like basis, excluding from the comparison with the figures for the first nine months of 2017 the effects deriving from the adoption of the new accounting standard IFRS 15 (EUR +57.3 million, relating to publishing revenue of EUR +75.9 million, advertising revenue of EUR -8.1 million and other revenue of EUR -10.5 million), revenues would be substantially stable compared with the same period of 2017

Advertising revenue totalled EUR 281 million compared to EUR 284.4 million for the same period in 2017. On a like-for-like basis (net of the effects of IFRS 15 of EUR -8.1 million), it increased by EUR 4.7 million compared with the first nine months of 2017, in particular due to higher advertising revenues generated by Unidad Editorial and Newspaper Italy. The driving effect of the growth in digital revenues, which reached EUR 86 million as at 30 September 2018 (+18.1% compared to the same period of 2017), is worth noting

Publishing revenue amounted to EUR 326.6 million, compared to publishing revenue for the first nine months of 2017 of EUR 263.2 million. On a like-for-like basis (net of the effects of IFRS 15 of EUR +75.9 million), there would have been an overall decrease of EUR 12.5 million (EUR 8.4 million in Spain and EUR 4.1 million in Italy), mainly due to the decline in the reference markets in the two countries, which led to a decline in the circulation of newspapers on paper, and a fall in revenues from add-on products in Spain (EUR -1 million) even following the choice to focus on the most profitable issues. In terms of circulation, leadership was confirmed in the respective reference sectors for the daily newspapers Corriere della Sera, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Marca and Expansión, while El Mundo confirmed its second place among Spanish general newspapers. In Italy in particular, newsstand circulation (channels required by law) of Corriere della Sera and La Gazzetta dello Sport, down respectively by -2.5% and -6.6% compared with the first nine months of 2017, are compared with a contraction in the reference market of -7.5% and -10.8% (Source: ADS January-September 2018).

Other revenues amounted to EUR 105.7 million, compared to EUR 110.1 million in the first nine months of 2017. On a like-for-like basis (net of the effects of IFRS 15 amounting to EUR -10.5 million), sundry revenues increased by EUR 6.1 million, thanks in particular to the driving effect of higher revenues from sports events.

The significant growth in the digital performance indicators of the Group's newspaper sites continued: in the first nine months of 2018, the site gazzetta.it recorded an increase of 25.8% in the average monthly unique browsers (35.8 million), while corriere.it recorded an increase of 6.7% compared to the same period in 2017 (49.5 million) (source: Adobe Analytics). In September, the active customer base of Corriere is 133 thousand subscribers. Also in Spain, the average monthly unique browsers of elmundo.es (+16.2% to 55.2 million) and marca.com (+31.2% to 58.3 million) grew compared to the same period of the previous year (source: Omniture).

In this context, the Group's revenues from digital activities grew by 15.9% compared to the same period of 2017, reaching EUR 112.2 million.

In 2018, in addition to the success of the initiatives launched last year, the Group's editorial content continued to be enhanced and strengthened, with positive effects on revenues. On 23 February, the new monthly attached to Corriere della Sera, Corriere Innovazione, was launched, focusing on various aspects of innovation such as science, technology, culture, research and development. On 19 April came the launch of Solferino- books from Corriere della Sera, a publishing initiative with an offering of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and books for children, both Italian and foreign. On 18 May came the debut of Liberi Tutti, the new free weekly supplement on Fridays, dedicated to the pleasure of living. In July the cultural supplement laLettura was renewed, with the creation of a richer version, characterised by a pagination of up to 64 pages. On 19 SeptemberCOOK, the new monthly back dedicated to the world of cooking and food, was launched, while on 29 September the women's weekly Io Donna, underwent a renewal of its content, being presented in a larger format and on better paper to enhance the images and graphics. On 3 October Vivimilano, the weekly back dedicated to the city of Milano, has been renewed making the information even more usable by readers.

The offering for readers of La Gazzetta dello Sport in the first nine months of 2018 continued to expand, strengthening the system of back pages with daily spaces dedicated to Turin, Cagliari, Genoa and Sampdoria. There are also the new initiatives Gazza Mondo, a free international football insert available at newsstands on Tuesdays, and Time Out, a free weekly insight on the Italian basketball championship, available at newsstands on Wednesdays. From 1 July, Fuorigioco is on sale, the new free weekly Sunday publication in conjunction with La Gazzetta dello Sport, focused on the sporting environment, its celebrities and its myths and legends.

In Spain, from 23 February this year, the newspaper El Mundo has renewed the supplement Su Vivienda, a reference point for the real estate market, distributed every Friday along with the local Madrid edition of the newspaper. From 5 March of this year, the main publication by Unidad Editorial in economic and financial matters, Actualidad Económica, has become El Mundo's reference economic weekly. On 19 April, Marca Motor has renewed its format to respond to the new demands of the market, investing in innovation through a new, fresher, more dynamic and orderly design and the aim for a more modern style. The launch of the MarcaClaro portals in Colombia and Argentina in January and June 2018, respectively, after the launch of MarcaClaro in Mexico in 2017, has allowed a growth of 59% of the average number of monthly unique users of traffic in Latin America.

EBITDA for the first nine months of 2018 improved by EUR 17.4 million over the figure of EUR 84.4 million in the same period of 2017, amounting to EUR 101.8 million. The change is mainly due to the positive results deriving from the activity of development of the editorial content, the continuous enrichment of the offering and the enhancement of the portfolio of sporting events, in addition to the continuous commitment to the pursuit of efficiency, which allowed to obtain benefits on operating costs for EUR 17.7 million, of which EUR 7.9 million in Italy and EUR 9.8 million in Spain. It should be noted that in the first nine months of 2018 the total net effect of non-recurring charges was essentially equal to zero.

The table below shows the breakdown of EBITDA and revenue performance for the individual business areas (please refer to the attached press release):

• The adoption of the IFRS 15 accounting standard starting from 1 January 2018, without restating the balances as at 30 September 2017, involved an overall increase in revenues of EUR 57.3 million in the first nine months, made up of higher revenues of Newspapers Italy for EUR 55.1 million, Magazines Italy for EUR 6.5 million, Unidad Editorial for EUR 11.5 million and a decrease in Advertising and Sports for EUR 15.8 million.

EBIT totalled EUR 77.3 million, compared to EUR 47.1 million in the same period of 2017. In addition to the improvement in EBITDA, the operating result benefits of lower amortization for EUR 12.8 million (of which EUR 6.6 million was due to the shift from finite useful life to indefinite useful life of the daily titles Marca and Expansión, that in 2017 were already included in the last quarter).

The net result for the first nine months of 2018 was a positive EUR 52.1 million (EUR 19.8 million in the same period of 2017) and reflects the trends described above.

In particular, in the third quarter of 2018, EBITDAwas equal to EUR 18.6 million, EBIT amounted to EUR 11.5 million and the net result was positive for EUR 6.8 million, up respectively by EUR 3.2 million, EUR 8.4 million and EUR 10.9 million compared to the third quarter of 2017. It is worth noting with reference, in particular, to continuing operations, that the net result for the third quarter was positive for the first time since 2010. It should be borne in mind that RCS has a seasonal trend in its activities that normally penalises the results of the first and third quarters of the year.

The main economic data for the third quarter are shown below (please refer to the attached press release):

• The adoption of the IFRS 15 accounting standard starting from 1 January 2018, without restating the balances as at 30 September 2017, involved in the third quarter an overall increase in revenues of EUR 25.4 million compared to the third quarter 2017, made up of higher publishing revenue for EUR 26 million, lower advertising revenue for EUR 0.4 million and lower other revenue for 0.2 million.

Net financial debt decreased at EUR 215.9 million (EUR -71.5 million compared to 31 December 2017), thanks to the contribution of over EUR 85 million of the positive cash flows from typical operations.

On 10 October the Amending Agreement to the existing Loan Agreement was signed with the Pool of Banks, the main terms of which are: (i) the extension of the duration of the loan by 12 months with consequent postponement of the final maturity date from 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2023 and (ii) the reduction of the rate spread applied to both credit lines starting from 10 October 2018, and subsequently recalculated as the occasion arises in relation to a margin grid determined by the Leverage Ratio (NFP/EBITDA) more favourable compared to the original one.

Business outlook and prospects for the current year

In a context still characterised by uncertainty, with the main reference markets falling (with the exception of online advertising), in the first nine months of 2018 as well the Group's performance showed a strong improvement in results compared to the same period of the previous year and achieved its margin targets and a progressive reduction of its financial debt.

In consideration of the actions already implemented and those envisaged, for the maintenance and development of revenues as well as for the continued pursuit of operating efficiency, as well as the positive results from the first nine months, in the absence of events that are currently unforeseeable, the Group confirms that it considers an increase achievable in EBITDA and cash flow from current operations compared to the 2017 financial year, such as to allow the reduction of financial debt at the end of 2018 to less than EUR 200 million.

The evolution of the general economic situation and reference sectors could however affect the complete achievement of these objectives.

***

Roberto Bonalumi, the Director responsible for drawing up the company's statements, hereby declares, pursuant to Article 154-bis, paragraph 2 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (Testo Unico della Finanza, TUF), that the information contained in this press release accurately represents the figures contained in the Group's accounting records.

***

RCS MediaGroup is one of the leading multimedia publishing groups active mainly in Italy and Spain in all publishing sectors, from newspapers to magazines, from digital to books, from TV to new media. It is also one of the main operators in the advertising sales market and organises iconic events and sporting formats of the utmost importance, such as the Giro d'Italia.

The RCS Group publishes the Corriere della Sera, La Gazzetta dello Sport, El Mundo, Marca and Expansion newspapers, as well as numerous periodicals, including the main ones Oggi, Amica, IoDonna, 7, Yo Dona and Telva.

For additional information:

RCS MediaGroup - Corporate Communications

Maria Verdiana Tardi [phone] [phone] - [e-mail]

RCS MediaGroup -Investor Relations

Arianna Radice [phone] [phone] [e-mail]

www.rcsmediagroup.it

[1] The figures as at 30 September 2018 include the adoption of the new IFRS 15 and IFRS 9 accounting standards, which came into force from 1 January 2018. For both said principles, the Group has availed itself of the right not to recalculate the comparative data compared: the economic values ​​of 2018, in particular for revenues linked to the new IFRS 15 accounting standard, are therefore not immediately comparable with the corresponding values ​​of the same period of the previous financial year. The adoption of the new accounting standards did not have any significant effects on EBITDA and the subsequent items in the Income Statement.

[2] Consolidated revenues as at 30 September 2018, net of the implementation of the new IFRS 15 accounting standard, would amount to EUR 656 million (EUR 657.7 million as at 30 September 2017).