The Amplifon Group recorded growth in the first nine months of the year both in terms of sales (+1.0%) and in terms of EBITDA (+17.2%) with respect to the same period of 2008. According to the Group, these results were obtained thanks to the steps taken which helped the Group facing the difficult market more effectively, as well as to the defensive and relatively non-cyclical nature of the hearing aid sector. In the short term the global market conditions point to what will continue to be a difficult scenario due to persistent signals of weakness and instability in all the markets where the Amplifon Group is active. In the United States the Group intends to improve profitability, which is picking up after the losses suffered in the last part of 2008, while also continuing to implement the restructuring plan developed for the commercial network of the subsidiary Sonus which calls for the conversion of directly operated points of sale into franchises, replicating the successful business model already adopted by Miracle Ear. “We count on reporting growth at year-end 2009 and on confirming the positive results recorded in the first nine months of the year”, Franco Moscetti, the Amplifon Group’s Chief Executive Officer states. “The positive results of the third quarter, obtained in a particularly difficult context and that include also a positive reversal of the trend in the United Kingdom and the United States, give us confidence and indicate that we have made the right choices.”