Higher Revenues & Earnings at ProSiebenSat.1

MUNICH: ProSiebenSat.1 saw its revenues increase by 12.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, with a strong performance in the German ad market, digital activities and production business in the U.S.

The group posted revenues of 654.6 million euros ($742.7 million) in Q1, with all segments contributing to the healthy results. Recurring EBITDA adjusted for one-off effects rose by 9 percent to 152.7 million euros ($173.3 million). Underlying net income also increased considerably, with a growth of 25.4 percent to 69.9 million euros ($79.3 million).

In the broadcasting German-speaking segment, external revenues rose by 4.8 percent to 470.8 million euros ($534.2 million). Recurring EBITDA increased by 5 percent to 125.8 million euros ($142.7 million). This growth was driven by rising TV ad revenues, as well as the development of the HD distribution business.

Within the Digital & Adjacent segment, external revenues grew by 30.4 percent to 138.2 million euros ($156.8 million). Recurring EBITDA grew 12.5 percent to 26.8 million euros ($30.1 million). Digital commerce made the largest contribution to revenues, with the media-for-revenue-share and travel businesses.

The digital entertainment business continued to grow dynamically; the most important revenue drivers included the VOD portal maxdome and, as a result of consolidation, the online games business with Aeria Games.

In the content production and global sales segment, external revenues increased by 75.6 percent to 45.6 million euros ($51.3 million). Recurring EBITDA rose to 700,000 euros ($787,000) after having posted a negative balance of 2.5 million euros ($2.8 million) in the previous year. The greatest revenue contribution was again made by the production business of Red Arrow Entertainment Group in the U.S. The success of Bosch on Amazon in the U.S. has already led to a second-season order for Red Arrow. Also, the consolidation of the U.S. production outfit Half Yard Productions had a positive impact.

For fiscal 2015, the group confirms its targets and continues to expect an increase in revenues in the mid to high single-digit percentage range. Recurring EBITDA and underlying net income are again expected to exceed the prior-year level.

Thomas Ebeling, the CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, said: “We have had a good start to the new financial year. All three segments have developed positively. The digital business is growing dynamically, and also our production pillar has seen significant increase. In the TV business, we are using the favorable economic environment to further augment our TV advertising revenues. We are also making very good progress toward our midterm targets. By 2018, we want to increase our revenues by 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) compared to 2012. We have already achieved 59 percent, and thus are a reliable partner for the capital market.”