MFE sees first-half revenue and profit drop slightly

Mediaset-owner MediaForEurope’s (MFE) board has approved first-half financials that saw the group’s net revenue shrink slightly, pulled down by the general dip in the advertising market. However, the group was able to post a rise in operating profit after cutting costs by 2.2%.

MFE has drawn the conclusion that Italy and Spain are probably better positioned than the other main EU markets to weather further interest rate rises and economic headwinds, and confirmed its expectation that it will deliver positive annual EBIT, net pfoift and free cashflow.

MFE also stands to benefit from comparisons with last year, when it was pulled down by lack of access to coverage of the football World Cup from Qatar.

MFE posted net revenues of €1.37 billion, down from €1.388 billion the previous year. Ad revenues were down from €1.362 billion to €1.344 billion, which MFE hailed as a much smaller drop than many of its European peers.

Operating profit was €120.9 million, up from €112 million.

Italian net revenues for the first half were more or less in line with last year’s, with ad revenues recording a modest drop to €970.4 million. EBIT rose from €17.1 million to €39 million.

In Spain, the group’s revenue drop was greater – from €415.2 million to €397 million, and EBIT declined from €95.8 million to €81.7 million.