RTL Group Reports Higher Revenue, Lower Profit

RTL Group posted a revenue increase of 2.7 percent for the first nine months of 2018 to reach €4.47 billion ($5.1 billion), while net profit attributable to RTL Group shareholders was down year on year to €424 million ($483 million).

Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Group, said: “In the first nine months of 2018, RTL Group once again demonstrated its position of strength—even in challenging market conditions. This is thanks to our broad international footprint and well-diversified revenue mix. Our main goal is to grow organically across our portfolio while maintaining attractive shareholder returns.

“The mixed developments of the European TV advertising markets show that we are on the right track with our clear focus on two growth areas: building and expanding our non-linear streaming platforms and producing local exclusive content.

We will substantially increase the content offers of our streaming services across all genres—this includes showing programmes online first and developing original productions for these services. Combined with state-of-the-art user experience, RTL Group is determined to become the European pioneer for the next level of Total Video.”

During the first nine months of 2018, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s EBITDA decreased by 2.6 percent to €484 million ($551 million), mainly due to lower TV advertising revenue. Groupe M6’s EBITDA was up by 4.9 percent to €277 million ($316 million). RTL Nederland’s EBITDA was up 22.2 percent to €55 million ($63 million), thanks in large part to Videoland and other digital activities.

Fremantle’s EBITDA was up 3.1 percent to €66 million ($75 million), largely driven by the strong performances of Fremantle in North America, Germany (UFA) and the Canadian video game company Ludia.