France; Spir Communication’s share price fell by 4.8 per cent to 26.5 euros yesterday on the news that the owner of car (LaCentrale.fr and Caradisiac.com), generalist (topannonces.fr), and property portals (logic-immo.com) had suffered a net loss of 53.5 million euros in 2011 compared to a profit of 119.7 million euros the previous year.
The losses were mostly associated with the company’s parcel delivery division and the costs of restructuring to focus more on the net.

Earnings before interest and taxes, however, were 13.3 million euros – up over 35 per cent and the company attributed this to “the dynamics of its web sites” as it divests from some of its more traditional media businesses.