TF1 ad revenue plummets
July 30, 2020
By Chris Forrester
French commercial broadcaster TF1 reported a strong operating profit despite a big drop in advertising revenues.
TF1’s group ad-revenues fell year-on-year by 41 per cent, but the broadcaster was helped by a stronger programming slate and internal cost-savings.
Management comments suggest that the ad-market is slowly recovering but would not be drawn on the outlook for the future such are their continued concerns regarding Covid-19.
TF1’s Q2/2020 revenues came in at €390 million, down 34 per cent but beating Zone Finance consensus by 10 per cent. Current operating profit reached +€26 million, down year-on-year by 74 per cent year-on-year but beating consensus which had estimated a loss of -€28 million – with the best coming from programming and other costs savings similarly to M6, reported a note from investment bank Exane/BNPP.