Advertising and digital acquisitions boost ProSiebenSat.1

Thomas Ebeling

An improved advertising market in German-speaking markets and the impact of digital acquisitions helped lift broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1’s performance in the third quarter, with the media group posting 17.2% growth in revenue to €747.1 million and EBITDA growth of 9.1% to €177.8 million.

In the German-speaking region, the broadcaster increased its revenues by 6.3% to €465.1 million, boosted by an increase in its audience share in a market that also saw strong growth in TV advertising.

ProSiebenSat.1’s digital activities received a boost from its acquisition of MCN Collective Digital Studio and comparison site Verivox. Digital revenues amounted to €207.9 million for the quarter, up 31%, while EBITDA was up 16.7% to €37.7 million.

Content production and global sales saw revenue grow by 79.9% to €74.1 million in quarter, with EBITDA more than doubling to €5.3million. the division was boosted by organic growth, particularly in the US from Red Arrow Entertainment.

“In the third quarter, we again increased revenues and earnings dynamically and have grown profitably in all segments. We are therefore heading for another very good year. At the same time, we will continue on our successful growth course. By 2018, we plan to increase our revenues to EUR 4.2 billion versus 2012 and we are targeting recurring EBITDA of EUR 1.1 billion. We are adhering to our shareholder-friendly dividend policy and will continue to pay out 80 % to 90 % of underlying net income in the future. This will allow us to continue to offer investors significant added value in the future,” said Thomas Ebeling, CEO.