Fox sees revenue and profit growth in Italy
February 5, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Fox Networks Group Italy closed the financial year 2018 (which ended in June) with an operating result of €18 million, compared to €10.7 million a year earlier.
In the same period, profits increased from €10.1 million to €13 million, while revenues grew 2 per cent to €168 million, reports daily Italia Oggi.
Revenues from sales of Fox channels (Fox, Life, Crime, Animation, Comedy) and those of National Geographic to the Sky Italian pay-TV platform increased by 1 per cent to €109.7 million, while advertising revenues fell by almost 7 per cent to €32.6 million.
The broadcaster has reduced group costs and some investments, resulting in savings of around €15 million.
The closure of the Fox Sports channel in July 2018 may have a limited impact on the accounts for the financial year 2019.
From last summer, the two Fox and National Geographic channels have expanded their distribution to DTT, thanks to Sky Italia’s new subscription-based offer following an agreement with Mediaset.
It is also possible that Fox could launch some free-to-air channels on DTT, in an attempt to find new distribution outlets for its content.