By Chiara Holzhaeuser
(Reuters) – German broadcaster RTL posted first-quarter revenue of 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) on Wednesday, up 2.6% year-on-year, with TV advertising sales up 10%, after an 8.2% fall in 2023.
RTL confirmed its guidance for 2024, saying this was based on “a slight recovery of the German TV advertising market and broadly stable advertising markets” in its other regions.
“We have good momentum and expect that the recovery of the TV advertising markets will continue in the second quarter of 2024,” an RTL spokesperson said, without giving details.
Because the second-half is most crucial for its full-year profit, RTL had decided not to adjust its 2024 guidance for the time being, the spokesperson told Reuters.
Lower TV ad revenue has hampered the company in 2023, when it twice cut its guidance due to a weaker-than-expected advertising market in Europe, particularly in Germany.
RTL’s streaming business stood at 86 million euros, up 41% year-on-year, helped by a higher number of subscribers and increased subscription prices in Germany.
Overall sales were hit by RTL’s global television content production business Fremantle which posted a 9.2% drop in revenue due to timing effects in Britain, Italy and Germany.
RTL’s parent Bertelsmann reported a 9% drop in first-quarter revenue to 4.3 billion euros on Wednesday, due to the sale of staff outsourcing company Majorel, while confirming its full-year forecast.
“For the full year 2024, we expect a significant decline in revenues and earnings due to the already-completed sales of Majorel and DDV Mediengruppe, and the planned sale of RTL Nederland,” Bertelsmann CFO Rolf Hellermann said in a statement.
Bertelsmann said most of its first-quarter revenue came from RTL’s TV and streaming businesses, music company BMG, Arvato Group’s services businesses, Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments.
($1 = 0.9312 euros)
(Reporting by Chiara Holzhaeuser; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Sonali Paul and Alexander Smith)
