Despite a European ad turndown, the European broadcasting group Pro Sieben Sat 1 has managed to turn profitable.

The group improved its 2008 loss of € 119.1 million to a profit of 144.5 million in 2009, while revenues were down 5.5% to 2.077 billion.

“Thanks to continuous cost management and our good performance in the fourth quarter, we have been able to return the company to profitability in 2009″ says the group’s CEO Thomas Ebeling.

Munich-based Pro Sieben Sat 1 is owned by private equity firms KKR and Permira and is active in the German speaking countries, the Benelux, Scandinavia, central and eastern Europe and the Balkan region. It runs radio stations in Scandinavia (through SBS Radio), Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Greece.