RTL Group Revenues Up 6.3 Percent

LUXEMBOURG: First-quarter 2012 revenues at the RTL Group rose 6.3 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion), driven by its German broadcasting operations, FremantleMedia and the M6 Group, while EBITA remained flat at 191 million euros ($247 million).

The company noted that the results come against the challenging backdrop of the euro zone crisis. While the German TV ad market was up "significantly" in the period, France was only up "slightly" and the Dutch and Belgian markets showed decreases in their ad markets. Southern and Eastern European markets are also being hit by an ad downturn.

RTL Group said its improved revenues came from Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, FremantleMedia and M6 Group. EBITA was flat as higher profits from RTL in Germany and M6 in France were offset by lower ad revenues in other broadcast operations, higher programming costs in some markets and continued pressure on profit margins at FremantleMedia.