Ad boost for TF1 Q3
October 31, 2018
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
French commercial broadcast group TF1 has posted growing results for the first nine months of 2018, boosted by advertising, distribution agreements with telcos and the recent consolidation after the acquisition of website Aufeminin.
However, the net profit attributable to the group was €81.7 million, down 4.1 per cent,
TF1 Group has achieved a revenue increase of 6.9 per cent over the first nine months of 2018 to € 1.57 billion and a current operating profit up 6.6 per cent to €124.2 million.
The growth is sustained by the TV advertising revenue that increased by 2.5 per cent to €1.151 billion, driven by a significant Q3 growth of 6.6 per cent and reflecting the success of the Football World Cup and the back-to-school programming schedules.
The growth also comes from the diversification strategy that includes the consolidation following the acquisition of platform Aufeminin and the creation of a digital segment. The impact of distribution agreements with telecoms operators also has been significant.
In terms of target audiences, the TF1 and affiliate channels share rose to 32.4 per cent (up .0.4 of a point year-on-year).
The group also reported that online and OTT platform MyTF1 performed well during the last quarter, with 326 million video views, up 6.8 per cent year-on-year, largely driven by flagship programmes such as reality TV show La Villa: la bataille des couples (47 million video views), the World Cup (21 million video views) and TV series Good Doctor (14 million video views). By end September, MYTF1 had broken the billion video views barrier, with a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent.
TF1 Group, which expects to hit programming cost target of €960 million (excluding major sporting events) for its five free-to-air channels by end of 2018, has thus reiterated its plan for 2018 and 2019.
Next year, TF1 forecasts attaining growth in revenue from activities, other than TV advertising on the five free-to-air channels, with those other activities expected to account for at least one-third of the consolidated revenue. It also targets a double-digit current operating margin rate.