(Reuters) – French TV group TF1 reported on Friday a 14.2% rise in full-year advertising revenue as the economic recovery helped boost advertising spending.
The Paris-based company, which owns France’s most popular channel, said that advertisers continued to value the appeal of television as it faces fierce competition from digital players.
Advertising spending is recovering from the coronavirus crisis as lockdown restrictions to curb Omicron-linked infections continue to ease.
TF1 posted full-year advertising revenue of 1.70 billion euros ($1.93 billion), while its current operating profit for the period rose 80.5% year-on-year to 343.2 million euros.
The firm also reported a full-year current operating margin of 14.1%, above its own forecast of over 12%.
Shares in TF1 were up 3.4% to 9.12 euros at 0801 GMT.
France’s largest private broadcaster, which plans to combine with French rival M6 to create a national champion able to challenge Netflix and Disney, said the proposed merger continues on schedule.
In July, TF1 announced it expected to complete the merger with by the end of 2022.
($1 = 0.8795 euros)
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Diana Mandia; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Elaine Hardcastle)
