Advertising strength and cost-cutting helps nudge M6 upwards

French broadcaster M6 saw its revenues for the first half nudge upwards by 2.6% to €662.4 million and its recurring EBIT jump by 25.3% to €118.7 million on the back of a solid TV advertising performance and reduced costs.

The EBITA figure excluded an indemnity received in the first half of last year related to the ending of a contract with Orange that licensed the latter to offer low-cost mobile services under the M6 brand.

The main M6 channel turned in an audience share of 13.8% among the audience aged four and above, but improved its standing slightly with its target audience of women aged under 50, where it grew by 0.1 points to achieve a 21.8% share.

Digital channel W9 grew its share of its target audience by 0.4% while 6ter upped its share of its target audience by 0.3 points to 2.5%.

M6 reduced the costs of its channels by €11.4 million to €221.1 million, reinvesting money saved from the absence of a Euro 2016 football competition this year.

Revenue from production dropped by 5.6% to €52.3 million, with few films released theatrically this year. Revenue from diversification activities such as 6play grew by 1.2% to €162.2 million.