In This Article:
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Revenue: Increased by 2% to EUR2.9 billion in the first half of 2024.
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Streaming Revenue: Grew by 42% in the first half of 2024.
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Adjusted EBITA: Slightly decreased to EUR172 million due to higher sports program costs.
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Total Group Profit: Increased by 31% to EUR173 million, with EUR110 million from continuing operations.
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Net Cash from Operating Activities: Increased to EUR72 million, including RTL Nederland.
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Net Debt: Increased to EUR1.1 billion from EUR291 million at the end of 2023.
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RTL Deutschland Revenue: Up 3% to EUR1.21 billion, driven by higher TV advertising and streaming revenue.
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Groupe M6 Revenue: Increased by 6% to EUR657 million, mainly due to higher TV advertising and streaming revenue.
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Fremantle Revenue: Decreased by 5% to EUR957 million, with adjusted EBITA stable at EUR35 million.
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Paying Subscribers: Increased by 25% to EUR6.3 million across Germany, France, and Hungary.
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TV Advertising Revenue: Grew by almost 5% across the group.
Release Date: August 09, 2024
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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Streaming revenues grew by 42% in the first half of 2024, with a 25% increase in paying subscribers across Germany, France, and Hungary.
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TV advertising revenue across the group grew by almost 5%, with RTL Germany outperforming the market.
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The acquisition of Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures for EUR200 million aims to expand the global content business Fremantle.
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The partnership with Deutsche Telekom and Sky Deutschland is progressing well, enhancing streaming service growth.
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The planned migration of RTL+ to the Bedrock technology platform is expected to reduce streaming tech costs and create a European champion streaming technology.
Negative Points
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Adjusted EBITA was slightly down to EUR172 million due to higher costs for sports programs, particularly the UEFA 2024 matches.
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Revenue at Fremantle decreased by 5% due to the impact of the 2023 US writers and actors strikes and budget cuts by streaming companies.
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Net debt increased to EUR1.1 billion from EUR291 million at the end of 2023, primarily due to dividend payments and acquisitions.
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The Dutch competition authority's Phase 2 investigation into the sale of RTL Nederland to DPG Media is ongoing, delaying the transaction.
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Higher content costs, particularly for sports programs, are expected to impact financial performance in 2024.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Can you give us some indication of advertising trends in your main market? A: Thomas Rabe, CEO: We provided data for the first half of the year, showing significant advertising market share gains in Germany. For Q3, July was down single-digit in Germany, August is expected to be down double-digits due to the Olympic Games, but September is looking positive. Overall, Q3 will be down, but we are hopeful for an uptick in Q4. We expect the German market to be slightly up for the year, with us outperforming the market.