COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - Outdoor advertising specialist Stroer has defied the weakness of the German advertising market at the start of the year and increased sales and operating profit. The group's January-to-March net loss climbed six percent year-on-year to just under 410 million euros, the MDax company announced in Koln on Thursday. The digital out-of-home (DOoH) advertising business and the sale of Asambeauty cosmetic products showed above-average growth.

For months, Stroer has benefited from its focus on digital outdoor advertising. "Digital outdoor advertising outperformed all other advertising media with growth of 17 percent, driven by strong programmatic demand," said co-chief executive Christian Schmalzl, according to the statement. Stroer categorizes digital outdoor advertising as, for example, advertising on large screens at hubs such as train stations.

Adjusted for special effects, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose by three percent to around 97 million euros. Stroer performed slightly better than analysts had expected in terms of both consolidated net income and operating profit. However, due to higher interest rates, net profit was lower: After 11.1 million euros in the prior-year quarter, the operator of t-online.de now earned 3.4 million euros./ngu/jsl/stw