Advanced Television

RTL results boosted by streaming, TV ads

March 17, 2022

RTL Group has released its full-year results for the year ending December 31st 2021.

Group revenue increased 10.3 per cent to €6,637 million (2020: €6,017 million), mainly due to strong growth of TV advertising revenue in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2021, of Fremantle and of the streaming businesses. Group revenue was up 13.5 per cent organically compared to 2020 and 4.3 per cent compared to 2019.

In 2021, RTL Nederland reported significantly higher audience share, while the audience share of Groupe M6 was up slightly. RTL Deutschland’s audience share decreased in 2021 partly due to major sporting events broadcast by the public broadcasters.

TV advertising revenue across the Group was up 16 per cent year-on-year and 10.7 per cent in Q4/2021. Streaming revenue from RTL+ and Videoland grew by 31.2 per cent to €223 million (2020: €170 million). Distribution revenue was up 9 per cent to €437 million (2020: €401 million).

Group profit grew strongly, reaching a record level of €1,454 million (2020: €625 million), mainly due to the increase in Adjusted EBITA, the capital gains from the disposals of SpotX and Ludia and positive effects from the re-measurements of Super RTL and Stéphane Plaza Immobilier.

Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, commented: “2021 was a successful year for RTL Group. Revenue, Adjusted EBITA and Group profit were up significantly, driven by the recovery of the advertising markets, our strong market positions and active portfolio management, leading to a record Group profit of almost €1.5 billion. We have also made significant progress in executing our strategy to establish national cross-media champions. Major consolidation moves in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Croatia will create significant value for RTL Group’s shareholders and stronger positions to compete with the global tech and streaming platforms.”

“RTL Group’s growth businesses of streaming and content progressed significantly in 2021, with more than 3.8 million paying subscribers for RTL+ and Videoland, and 81 new drama productions from Fremantle. We have significantly raised our streaming targets. Compared to 2021, we plan to triple the annual content investments to around €600 million by 2026. On this basis, we aim to grow the number of paying subscribers for RTL+ and Videoland to 10 million by the end of 2026, to increase our streaming revenue to €1 billion and to reach profitability in 2026. In 2022, we will expand RTL+ to become a cross-media entertainment service, comprising video, music, podcasts, audio books and e-magazines. This will add significantly to the growth of RTL+. In addition, we will accelerate the expansion of our content production business, Fremantle – both organically and via M&A – with a revenue target of €3 billion by 2025,” Rabe concluded.

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