ProSiebenSat.1 “stabilises revenues” in Q3
November 14, 2023
ProSiebenSat.1, the German mass media company, has reported that revenues have stabilised after what it described as “a difficult first half of the year”. Group revenues in the third quarter of 2023 were 3 per cent below the previous year at €888 million (previous year: €911 million). Organic revenue growth was almost stable.
By contrast, advertising revenues from digital entertainment offerings in the German-speaking region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), such as the streaming platform Joyn, saw strong growth. In addition, the Commerce & Ventures companies Verivox and flaconi once again recorded significant growth. This almost completely compensated for the decline in TV advertising revenues. Organically, i.e. adjusted for portfolio and currency effects, Group revenues were almost stable in the third quarter and amounted to €866 million (previous year: €877 million). Group revenues for the first nine months were €2.5 billion, which corresponds to a decrease of €323 million or 11 per cent. Organically, Group revenues in this period declined by €182 million or 7 per cent compared to the previous year.
Bert Habets, Group CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, commented: “We have taken the challenges in the market as an opportunity to realign our Group in terms of both personnel and organisational. In doing so, we are setting the course to expand our digital business areas more strongly. At the same time, we have now successfully implemented the cost efficiency programme that we initiated at the beginning of the year. This applies above all to the Entertainment segment, but we have also responded to the declining revenues in the Dating & Video segment. We are confident and see a positive trend in the third quarter: Joyn recorded a very good quarter once again with an increase of 58 per cent in AVoD advertising revenues, while the audio segment and programmatic trade of advertising time also increased their revenues dynamically. The commerce business around our majority investments and in particular Verivox and flaconi is picking up strongly. We will fully realise the savings from our efficiency programme in the fourth quarter respectively in 2024.”
Martin Mildner, Group CFO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, added: “After a difficult first half of the year, we managed to keep our revenues almost stable in the third quarter compared to the previous quarters, despite the continuing challenging market environment. We are seeing first signs that our clear focus on our strategically important business areas is paying off. At the same time, we are acting in an extremely cost-conscious manner – our adjusted EBITDA in this quarter is therefore above the previous year for the first time since 2021 despite the weakness of the advertising market. For the Group, we want to continue this trend and are currently expecting a slight increase in revenues and earnings in the crucial fourth quarter.”