Profit Slips at RTL Group

LUXEMBOURG: Lower ad revenues and higher programming spend in Germany were cited as the key factors in RTL Group’s reduced profit for the first quarter, on revenues that were relatively flat at 1.26 billion euros.

Group EBITA at the company fell from 205 million euros in the year-ago period to 181 million euros. RTL Group, pointing to last year’s robust growth in Western European ad spend, cited challenges in Germany but also highlighted gains in the Netherlands and France.

Looking ahead, RTL Group says it "confidently expects to outperform the market in all major countries thanks to the strong audience performance of its TV channels."