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T White Paper “The State of Latinos: Census 2010” Presented at National Press Club in Washington 3And the Winner is….. 4Grupo Salinas Presents Solid Second Quarter Financials 5Names & Faces: Olivia Franco 5GS Business Model Is Presented in Washington 6

The Best of Ricardo Salinas’ Blog 6Entre El Público y El Privado Celebrates Six Years on the Air 7 Fundacion Azteca Raises Over Us$6.5 Million To Support Mexican Food Bank 7Automobile Division Expands With Autos Elektra 8 Values in Action: Execution 9

J u l y, 2 0 0 9 • N u m . 1 8

Summer Days

We’re moving strongly into the summer months with a lot of great accomplishments. Ricardo gave an uplifting ad-dress to graduates of our Plantel Azteca School, where he urged them to seek their “Element ” (see blog recap on p. 6 or visit his website www.ricardosalinas.com). The Plantel School is a working example of the emphasis that we as a group place on values such as learning, excellence and generosity.

Our quarterly financial results were good given the current state of the global economy. Our bank loans have had ex-cellent performance and we are looking forward to things picking up next year.

This month we were in Washington to present in conjunc-tion with the International Center of Journalists the find-ings of a detailed report on the importance of the Census for the Latino community in the United States. Then we were back in town for an active participation in a leader-ship conference organized by the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.

Closer to home, we had outstanding elections coverage by our TV Azteca News Team of the mid-tem gubernato-rial, congressional and local elections in Mexico (see p. 9). We are also expanding our auto strategy to include certi-fied used cars under the Autos Elektra name.

Congratulations go out to my friend Andrés Roemer for six years with his innovative Entre lo Público y lo Privado program. And kudos as well to Araceli Gómez, the winner of the first annual Italika motorcycle photo contest.

As always, thank you for your interest, and hava a happy summer, Luis J. Echarte

Ricardo Salinas Delivers Commencement Address to Plantel Azteca School

Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego led this month the commence-ment ceremony of the Plantel Azteca school for the in-stitution’s 7th graduating class in junior high (115 stu-dents) and its 10th generation of high school graduates (643 students).

Since the school’s founding in 1997, Plantel Azteca has consolidated its position as a working example of the Grupo Salinas value of learning and a powerful tool to improve the quality of life of thousands of Mexican families.

cont. p.2

María Laura and Ricardo B. Salinas cut the inaugural ribbon at Plantel Azteca´s new interactive class room

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July, 2009

cont. from p.1

During the ceremony, Mr. Salinas shared an en-couraging message for students, “Today is a special moment, a moment that leaves its mark. Although the path is long in our lives, this is none-theless a milestone, a pause we must take to re-flect on where we are, where we are going, where we come from and where we are heading.”

Plantel Azteca has graduated to date a total of 4,725 junior high students and 951 high school stu-dents in a technology-focused curriculum.

The success of the model has been to support academic excellence with talented students of limited economic resources. Tuition is fully funded through an education voucher paid by Grupo Sali-nas that also includes uniforms, meals, text books and school supplies.

Graduates have been recognized by top Mexican universities, including the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Colegio Militar, Insti-tuto Politécnico Nacional, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Instituto Tecnológi-co y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Uni-versidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, Universidad del Valle de México (UVM), Universidad de las

Américas (Puebla), Centro Universitario del Estado de México and Escuela Normal de Especialización, to name a few.

For further information, visit the following Busi-nessWeek video link: http://www.businessweek.com/

Ricardo B. Salinas presents the Hugo Salinas Price medal fro academic excellence to Blanca Lucia Flores Pérez in the presence of Fundación Azteca Vice President Jorge Garralda

Ricardo and María Laura Salinas with Fundación Azteca president Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, María Teresa Badillo, Plantel Azteca Director with graduates

• 3 •

White Paper “The State of Latinos: Census 2010” Presented at National Press Club in Washington

Grupo Salinas and Fundación Azteca America spon-sored the presentation of a white paper published by the University of Denver entitled “The State of Latinos: Census 2010, Defining an Agenda for the Future.”

The event was organized in conjunction with the International Center for Journalists at the National Press Club, and included a discussion panel on chal-lenges faced by the Latino community, including the census and immigration reform.

Panel members included former Commerce Secre-tary Carlos Gutiérrez, University of Denver Professor Debora Ortega, and Marilia Matos, Associate Direc-tor of Field Operations for the U.S. Census, as well as Azteca America Washington Correspondent Arman-do Guzmán, and La Opinión columnist Pilar Marrero.

The report included a series of recommendations, including the suspension of immigration raids during the summer months of 2010, when enumerators can-vass neighborhoods for follow-ups to census ques-tionnaires. The report also proposes simultaneous informational programs on all four national Spanish-language television networks: Azteca America, Univi-sion, Telefutura and Telemundo to increase trust in the questionnaires and step-by-step instructions on how to properly fill out the forms. Finally, the report recommends continued hiring of culturally-relevant local workers at the U.S. Census.

“A complete census count is the single most impor-tant issue for our community,” said Luis J. Echarte, Chairman of Fundación Azteca America and Azteca America Network, during opening remarks. “As a critical step in our democratic process, we will con-tinue to dispel any misconceptions about the pro-cess and encourage our community to be accurately counted.”

The 2010 Census is an essential tool for distributing federal, state and local budgets. It is also fundamen-

tal for representative participation in the U.S. Con-gress.

The complete white paper: The State of Latinos: Census 2010 can be reviewed at www.fundacionaz-tecaamerica.org.

Daniel McCosh with former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutiérrez and Azteca America Washington Correspondent Armando Guzmán

Journalists networking during the event

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July, 2009

And the Winner is…..

The overall winner of the “Gánate tu Itálika” photo contest was announced on July 17.

Thanks to this innovative adaptation of an Italika motorcycle, Arcelia Gómez Rodríguez will be driv-ing a new Italika motorcycle every year for life.

In all, Italika received 3,000 entries from Mexico, Peru, Honduras and Guatemala. The field was nar-rowed to 100 semi finalists earlier this month and down to 10 finalists by July 10. Second and Third place finishers were Luis Ángel Ramírez, and Andrés Emmanuel Peña, who will receive TS170 and DS 150 Italika bikes. Prizes of CS125 bikes were awarded to fourth through tenth place finishers, with Italika jackets for the first 100 finishers.

Italika motorcycles are an important work tool for hundreds of thousands of clients. NOTE: Although we consider these uses of Italika bikes highly creative, we nonethless do not recom-mend any modifications or uses not specified by the owner’s manual.

To see more entries, visit: www. italika.com.mx

Carlos Godoy

Pedro Jaime García

Arcelia Gómez Rodríguez

• 5 •

Grupo Salinas Presents Solid Second Quarter Financials

Grupo Salinas companies presented positive re-sults for the second quarter of this year, despite a challenging economic environment.

Revenue for Grupo Elektra’s financial business grew 10%, which helped overall year-on-year con-solidated revenue for Grupo Elektra to increase 1% for the quarter.

The active consolidated loan portfolio grew 3% while deposits increased 11%. The credit growth was in addition to an important improvement in asset quality, as the overdue loan portfolio fell six percentage points from 13.7% to 7.9%.

Expenses were constant for the period despite expansion in Mexico and Latin America and the growth of the automobile business, causing con-

solidated EBITDA to rise 2%, with an EBITDA mar-gin of 14% for the quarter.

Sales and revenue at TV Azteca also increased from the same quarter last year as commercial au-dience levels rose.

The commercial audience in Mexico grew two percent-age points to 41% for full-day. At Azteca America, the primetime audience for viewers ages 18-49 rose 38%. Overall sales at TV Azteca increased 1%, while ex-penses were reduced by 11%, resulting in an increase in EBITDA and delivering an EBITDA margin of 38%.

Grupo Iusacell reported revenue of P$2,659 million, 5% above the same quarter last year, while EBITDA rose 1% to P$482 million. EBITDA margin for the quarter was 17%. Costs and company debt were af-fected by the depreciation of the peso against the dollar. However, Grupo Iusacell implemented an ag-gressive cost-cutting strategy as a pro-active mea-sure given the economic activity in Mexico.

NAMES & FACESOlivia Franco • Director of Risk Management • Banco AztecaOlivia has dedicated her professional life to fi-nance and banking, with 22 years of experience. She is part of the founding executive team of Banco Azteca, which will celebrate its 7th anniver-sary this fall. Nevertheless, she is not new to bank startups, having worked with CEO Carlos Septién at IXE Banco prior to joining Grupo Salinas.

“Joining Banco Azteca was an important chal-lenge in my professional life, because, to begin with, they´re competitors, besides the compli-cation presented with the banking authorites management. The result is that Banco Azteca is a pioneer in serving the bottom of the pyramid,” says Olivia. As Director of Risk Management, Ol-ivia has a responsibility that has very little margin for error since her area is in charge of identifying financial risk that the Bank is exposed to, as well as safeguarding the deposits of clients and the wealth of shareholders, in addition to facilitating systematic audits by bank regulators.

“The most important thing for me is the way that Banco Azteca operates –it’s so unique that we had to break paradigms in terms of normative issues in order to offer banking services to this segment of the population. It has taken a lot of effort, as well as deep learning and knowledge for regulators to recognize that we are not like any traditional bank,” she adds.

Olivia has two passions in her life, her family and her work. She enjoys reading and learning new things both in her professional and personal life. She is proud to have a responsible and profes-sional team that shares her dedication.

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July, 2009

www.ricardosalinas.com

Prosperity: “One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes,” said the British politician and writer Benjamin Disraeli over a century ago. His words do a good job describing the formula to excel in what we do and also explain one of the principle causes of indi-vidual prosperity and well-being.

Find Your Element: This concept was proposed in a book by the British writer Ken Robinson. It refers to a place or moment where things that you feel passionate about doing and living converge with what you have a natural aptitude for and do spontaneously. When you are in your Element, you are never bored or working: you are enjoying, because you are doing what you like and you do it well.

THE BEST OF RICARDO SALINAS’ BLOG

Grupo Salinas Business Model Is Presented in Washington

The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) organized this months its third annual Future Leaders Conference in the Capitol Visitors Center.

The conference was presented to over 300 young Hispanic students from throughout the United States who have demonstrated leadership quali-ties. The event gave them a unique opportunity to listen to presentations by six members of Con-gress and a panel of experts from throughout the

Americas and Spain. The two central topics were democracy and economic development opportu-nities in Latin America.

Participating members of Congress included Lin-coln Díaz-Balart, Mario Díaz-Balart, Henry Cuellar, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Albio Sires and Mike Pence. The event also included representatives from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as participants from Mexico, Spain, Argentina and Chile.

Héctor Romero, CEO of Signum Research (www.signumresearch.com), spoke about the business opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid in Latin America and presented the case of Grupo Salinas to the audience of future leaders.

Héctor Romero, CEO of Signum Research

CHLI at the Congressional Auditorium

• 7 •

Entre lo Público y lo Privado Celebrates Six Years on the Air

A fresh format that combines guests of elected of-ficials with writers, entertainers, sports figures and business leaders, Entre lo Publico y lo Privado broke the mold of the traditional political talk show when it was launched six years ago.

Hosted by Andrés Roemer and Fernanda Tapia, the show has hosted such guests as: Germán Dehesa, Sergio Sarmiento, Jacobo Zabludovsky, Martha Chapa, Kikín Fonseca, Eulalio López “Zotoluco”, Miguel Alemán, Raúl Anguiano and Jorge Casta-ñeda, to name a few.

The program maintains a rapid pace as guests are against the clock with rapid-fire questions and an-swers, assuring that responses are from the heart and the unconscious. Later guests are given choices of question categories that include politics, society, justice, future, sexuality and values. Grupo Salinas executives, including our Chairman Ricardo Salinas, as well as friends and guests con-gregated in the historic center of Mexico City to cel-ebrate the anniversary.

The program airs Wednesday nights at 10 pm on Proyecto 40.

Program hosts Fernanda Tapia and Andrés Roemer with Ri-cardo B. Salinas and Proyecto 40 CEO Luis Armando Melgar

Proyecto 40 host Carlos Alazraki, former PRI spokersperson Marcos Búcio, Banco Azteca Vice Chairman Luis Niño de Rivera, former State of Mexico Governor César Camacho Quiroz

Fundación Azteca Raises Over US$6.5 Million To Support the Mexican Food Banks Association

Fundación Azteca raised over US$6.5 million (90 million pesos) during the 51st Movimiento Azteca awareness and fundraising campaign to support the Asociación Mexicana de Bancos de Alimentos (AMBA) food bank.

The funds will provide nourishment for 135,000 people for an entire year.

The amount raised was well above the initial goal of 4 million pesos thanks to the support of TV Az-teca viewers and corporate sponsors Unilever and Wal-Mart de México, showing solidarity in these difficult times.

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July, 2009

GS Motors Expands With Autos Elektra

Grupo Elektra has expanded its automobile oper-ations with the launch of Autos Elektra, which will offer certified used cars with guarantees alongside existing FAW models.

Autos Elektra will also purchase used cars from cli-ents at fair prices.

The business is based on four basic principles:

• Safety assured with a 140 point inspection list and a 60 day warranty.

• Access to the best financial plans.• Variety of brands, models and prices.• Confidence on Grupo Elektra, with more than

100 years serving our clients.

All of the 25 Grupo Salinas Motors’ existing deal-erships are slated to convert to the Autos Elektra format, with the first showroom and service center inaugurated on July 16th.

• 9 •

www.gruposalinas.com

Contact Information:

Investor Relations, Grupo Salinas Bruno Rangel • (5255) 1720-9167• jrangelk@gruposalinas.com.mx

Public Relations, Grupo Salinas U.S. Nathalie Rayes • (818) 683-4178 • nrayes@gruposalinas.com.mx

Press Relations, Grupo SalinasDaniel McCosh • (5255) 1720-0059 • dmccosh@gruposalinas.com.mx

“GS Update” Publication Info Elena Arceo • (5255) 1720-0060 • mearceo@gruposalinas.com.mx

Grupo Salinas is a group of dynamic, fast growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating shareholder value, and improving society through excellence. By making technology available to all levels of society, Grupo Sali-nas foments the development of the countries where it operates.

Editorial CommitteeDaniel McCosh • Bruno Rangel • Elena Arceo • Arturo Longares • Linda Garcidueñas • Dinorah Macías • Alejandro Vázquez

VALUES IN ACTION: ExecutionEnrique VáldesNews Production Director

TV Azteca made ratings history in its coverage of the mid-term elections on July 5. Although the Fuerza Informativa Azteca (FIA) news team has made steady ratings and information progress since the 2000 presidential election, it was only with the recent elec-tion that Azteca surpassed broadcasting rival Tele-visa with elections coverage.

Additionally, Azteca was first to call winners in the elections for governors in six states, in addition to numerous local elections and congressional races.

The poll results were 100% accurate in calling win-ners when compared to official vote counts that were released days later.

Coordination on the production side was the re-sponsibility of Enrique Váldes.

“Our success was the product of steady learning since the 2000 elections, and a steady increase in pre-planning,” said Enrique.

Pre-production planning was a key component of the success. Coverage required the careful coordi-nation of the team of 450 members of FIA, as well as the production staff of about 200. A total of twelve live feeds were received from across the country, with the projection of six simultaneous feeds on a 6m

x 4m LED screen at any gven time during the cover-age. The feeds originated from the six states with gubernatorial races, the Federal Election Institute (IFE) offices on both federal and Mexico City levels, as well as from offices in the four largest political par-ties and in the State of Mexico.

The success was also achieved despite being out-spent by rival Televisa by as much as 2 to 1, ac-cording to Enrique.

“I attribute the success to what I call the “muscle” of FIA, which is the experience, coordination and logistics of our team, as well as the youthfulness and dynamism of our anchor Javier Alatorre and strength of our FIA team,” said Enrique. “We were also supported by very reliable exit-poll surveys done by Mendoza, Blanco & Asociados, and the determination to air the information in a timely manner, as well as the effective application of in-novative technology.”