Advanced Television

RTL cautious on outlook

November 12, 2013

RTL Group has struck a cautious tone on its outlook, saying it expected a full-year operating profit of more than €1 billion. Previously, RTL had said it expected to achieve EBITA of €1.08 billion, similar to last year’s.

Europe’s biggest broadcaster, which is majority-owned by Germany’s Bertelsmann, said third-quarter revenue dropped 2.1 per cent to €1.27 billion as TV advertising market conditions remained challenging.

Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA), excluding special items dropped to €162 million from €165 million last year.

RTL also said it had seen a ‘promising start’ of the fourth quarter, its most important for advertising income. It said that its rapidly growing digital presence now established it as the “number one European media company in online video” and it plans to make further investments in this area. The group said that it is now responsible for more than two billion online video views per month and that its September acquisition of a minority stake in German multichannel YouTube network Divimove had made RTL Group “the fourth largest multichannel network (MCN) operator globally.”

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