ProSiebenSat.1 Group “Exceeds Expectations” in 2020 Results

ProSiebenSat.1 Group has reported revenues of around €4.04 billion euros ($4.9 billion) and an adjusted EBITDA of around €700 million ($848 million) for the full-year 2020.

With these figures—though preliminary and unaudited—the group has exceeded its full-year financial outlook posted in its Q3 2020 results. ProSiebenSat.1 had targeted group revenues between €3.85 billion and €3.95 billion as well as an adjusted EBITDA between €600 million and €650 million in full-year 2020 after the group’s business had been heavily impacted, particularly in the second quarter, by COVID-19-related restrictions.

The better-than-expected results were thanks to a strong performance in the fourth quarter from all segments of ProSiebenSat.1 Group. A key driver was the growth in the advertising business in the low-single-digit percentage range. Net financial debt at the end of 2020 decreased to around €1.97 billion due to a good cash flow development.

Rainer Beaujean, chairman of the executive board and CFO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, said: “We are very satisfied with our development in the fourth quarter. We are pleased that we were thus able to bring a conciliatory ending to 2020, which was a difficult year for everyone due to COVID-19. This shows that our program investments have paid off: In a competitive environment we convinced with highly attractive entertainment and infotainment formats and thus also strengthened our position in the TV advertising market. Now, we are fully focusing on 2021: As already announced, we expect that the current lockdown measures in our core markets will affect particularly our advertising business in the first quarter compared to the previous year. However, we expect a significant improvement in the Entertainment segment year-on-year, especially in the second quarter. As in 2020, as an early cycle company, we anticipate a rapid recovery as soon as the restrictions are being eased or lifted. Overall, we are focused on consistently pursuing our strategy in all segments and positioning ProSiebenSat.1 in an even more synergistic and cost-efficient way. We are concentrating on profitable growth on the one side as well as on the other side on achieving the mid-term improvement of our P7S1 return-on-capital-employed target to over 15 percent.”