ProSiebenSat.1 Media Posts Double-Digit Growth in Q1

MUNICH: ProSiebenSat.1 Group increased its revenues by 22 percent to 802 million euros ($924 million), while recurring EBITDA rose by 12 percent to 170 million euros ($196 million).

All segments contributed to the positive growth. In total, the group already generated 43 percent of its revenues outside the TV-advertising business. This is an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the previous year. The share is expected to grow to around 50 percent by 2018.

Within the broadcasting German-speaking segment, higher TV-advertising revenues and HD-distribution revenues were growth drivers. In the segment, ProSiebenSat.1 Group increased its external revenues by 5 percent to 493 million euros ($568 million). Recurring EBITDA grew by 4 percent to 131 million euros ($151 million). The positive revenue performance was primarily based on higher TV-advertising revenues.

Revenues and earnings increased significantly in the digital and adjacent businesses. The group reported strong revenue growth in the digital and adjacent segment. External revenues increased by 75 percent to 242 million euros ($279 million). Recurring EBITDA rose by 29 percent to 35 million euros ($40 million). Starting from the third quarter of 2016, ProSiebenSat.1 Group will split its digital business into two separate segments.

In regard to content production and global sales, new U.S. acquisitions contributed to growth. In the segment, external revenues increased by 38 percent to 63 million euros ($73 million). Recurring EBITDA was at 5 million euros ($5.8 million), compared to the prior year’s 1 million euros ($1.15 million). The positive development in the first quarter was the result of organic growth and revenue contributions from new investments Karga Seven Pictures and Dorsey Pictures.

ProSiebenSat.1 has now affirmed a positive full-year outlook for 2016. It expects an increase of more than 10 percent in group revenues. Recurring EBITDA and underlying net income are set to exceed the previous year’s level once again.

Thomas Ebeling, the CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, said: “We increased revenues and recurring EBITDA by double digits in the first quarter. Thanks to considerably higher TV-advertising revenues and the dynamically growing digital business, we are successfully pursuing our growth trajectory. We are networking our high-reach TV stations with our digital activities, which enables us to explore new markets successfully. We are also making good progress in achieving our midterm targets. By 2018, we want to increase revenues to 4.2 billion euros, which is a plus of 1.85 billion euros compared to 2012. We already realized almost 60 percent of this target.”