Premiere Q4 Loss Soars

MUNICH: In the fourth quarter, German pay-TV platform Premiere recorded a net loss of 114 million euros, while for the year the loss ballooned to 269 million euros, its largest ever.

For the same quarter last year, the platform reported a loss of 24 million euros, while for  2007 the net loss was 52 million euros.

The company attributed the wider loss to higher costs and flat subscription rates. Revenues in the quarter were down 10 percent to 236 million euros, but were relatively stable in the year at 941 million euros. The service ended the year with 2.4 million customers, a small decline on the 2007 results.

The company’s CEO, Mark Williams, noted that 2008 "was a very difficult year, during which we suffered a large financial loss and a liquidity crisis which threatened the company’s existence,. The most critical step now is the approval of the required capital increase by shareholders." That capital increase will see News Corporation upping its stake to more than 30 percent.

The platform expects to return to profitability by 2011.