What a difference a year makes. German media conglomerate Bertelsmann swung to a €78 million (£69.8 million) loss for the the first three months of the year, from a €35 million profit in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue dipped to €3.5 billion from €3.8 billion.

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CEO Harmut Ostrowski’s company - whose interests include Five and FremantleMedia owner RTL, magazine house Gruner + Jahr and book publisher Random House - complained that lucrative Easter TV ad sales didn’t fall in the period this year. But it’s realistic enough to admit the profit drop came “against the backdrop of the global economic crisis”, warning “the coming months will continue to be dominated by strict cost discipline”. It expects full-year profit to be down - but the extent to which depends on the ferocity of the recession. Results.