Schibsted ASA, Norway's biggest media company, reported its second-quarter profit is down more than analysts had anticipated, mostly due to real estate and recruitment advertising growth weakening and a one-time gain which inflated earnings one year previous, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Net income dropped 54 percent from 382 million kroner a year earlier to 177 million kroner (US$32.7 million), or from 5.69 kroner to 2.73 kroner a share, according to the company statement. Revenue increased 3.6 percent to 3.57 billion kroner.

According to a Bloomberg survey, analysts had predicted its profit at 217.6 million kroner on sales of 3.55 billion kroner.

The media company said it plans to reduce costs at its Aftenposten publication in Norway, and has already cut jobs at Spanish free newspaper 20 Minutos. It also shut down the Swedish free paper Punkt SE in May after it bought a stake in Metro International SA.

“The macro situation in Scandinavia is uncertain and of course the Spanish outlook continues to be weak,” said Chief Executive Officer Kjell Aamot in a presentation.

Besides print classifieds advertising, there are “however, few signs of a slowdown,” Aamot added, according to Bloomberg.

In Oslo, Schibsted's stock was down 5 kroner, or 3.5 percent, to 139 kroner, which was its fifth straight drop. This year, it has fallen 41 percent, valuing the company at 9.63 billion kroner.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Media Supersector Index declined 24 percent, according to Bloomberg.