Profit Boost at ProSiebenSat.1

MUNICH: On revenues that were up just 3.7 percent to 682.8 million euros, ProSiebenSat.1 first-quarter profit soared by 76.5 percent to 38.3 million euros, with significant gains in net income forecast for the remainder of this year.

"Due to the good growth momentum in many business units, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group again considerably increased its profits in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the previous year," said Thomas Ebeling, CEO at ProSiebenSat.1 Media. "With the disposal of the companies in the Netherlands and Belgium, we also optimized our international portfolio, at the same time improving our financial strength."

Revenues from the free-TV German-language segment were stable at 413.3 million euros. Its free-TV operations in other territories increased 12.6 percent to 181.1 million, led by strong gains in the Northern European stations. Revenues in the diversification segment rose by 9.3 percent to 88.4 million euros.

Announcing the financials, the company also revealed that it will axe live programming on the quiz channel 9Live after seeing continued revenue declines at the division. Financed by phone calls, 9Live saw its revenues fall 34.3 percent to 9.2 million euros. As of May 31, life programming will be discontinued, to be replaced by scripted series.

"We have made great progress in optimizing our portfolio and will considerably reduce leverage," Ebeling continued. "We are rigorously pursuing our growth strategy, supported by intelligent cost management. With our four-pillar strategy, the group is very well positioned. We continue to see positive growth opportunities in the advertising market, also in the medium term. Thanks to the consistent interlinking of our TV contents with online or pay offerings, we provide our customers with a high-quality advertising environment on all platforms. At the same time, with growth initiatives we are accessing new sources of revenue in the areas of new media, pay TV and distribution, as well as music and the deployment of the media-for-revenue and media-for equity-share models on an ongoing basis, thus expanding our revenue diversification. As a result of the successful production and program sales business, we are a global player in providing content. In 2011, ProSiebenSat.1 will further expand its position as one of the leading and most profitable media companies."