RTL Interim Results Show Strong Profit Growth

LUXEMBOURG: For the first nine months of the year, RTL Group boosted profits by 41.2 percent to 535 million euros ($718.8 million) and EBITA by 6.4 percent to 714 million euros ($959.2 million) on revenues of 4.05 billion euros ($5.4 billion).

The company's revenues in the period from January to September 2013 were down slightly, by 1.5 percent, as a result of economic conditions in Europe; only the German TV ad market was stable in the period, while all other markets showed reductions in ad revenues. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, the German operations, drove the gains in reported EBITA. The profit boost is a result of higher operating profit and a reversal of the 72-million-euro ($96.8 million) impairment charge in 2012 on the company's holding in Atresmedia in Spain.

Germany remains the largest profit center for the company, with EBITA up 9 percent to 399 million euros ($536.8 million). M6 in France generated an EBITA of 154 million euros ($207.2 million), a slight reduction largely due to start-up losses associated with the new digital channel 6ter. RTL Nederland reported a 5.5-percent EBITA increase to 58 million euros ($78 million), while FremantleMedia's was down slightly to 77 million euros ($103.6 million).

For Q3, revenues were down by 2.1 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion), with a flat EBITA of 162 million euros ($217.9 million).

Looking ahead, the company notes there has been a "slight easing in TV advertising markets…but conditions remain challenging and visibility limited."

In a joint statement, co-CEOs Anke Schäferkordt and Guillaume de Posch said: “With leading market positions, RTL Group is delivering strong and sustainable profits and cash flows, creating significant value for its shareholders. Performance in Germany has been particularly strong and our other businesses are resilient in facing the challenging economic conditions. We have had a promising start to the seasonally important fourth quarter. Looking to the rest of the year, we are confident of delivering more than 1 billion euros in EBITA for the full year of 2013. We’re executing our strategy from a position of strength, and making clear progress around our three pillars—broadcast, content and digital. From prudent levels of cash investment we have developed a series of initiatives that open up new sources for future growth. More than two billion online video views per month make RTL Group the number one European media company in online video. With strong organic growth plus continued investments in the digital space, we see significant potential for extending this position further.”