ProSiebenSat.1 again significantly increases revenues and earnings in the third quarter of 2013
[Unless otherwise stated, all statements and figures relate to
continuing operations. The sale of the Northern European TV and
radio activities was completed on April 9, 2013, and the companies
deconsolidated. The companies in Eastern Europe are still
classified as held for sale. The previous-year figures of the
income statement and the cash flow statement have been adjusted
accordingly at company and segment level. The comparative balance
sheet figures of the previous year were not adjusted.]
Munich, November 7, 2013. The ProSiebenSat.1
Group continued its course of growth in the third quarter of 2013:
The Group increased revenues by 13.9% to EUR 576.9 million. Despite
investments in numerous growth initiatives, recurring EBITDA
climbed 7.1% to EUR 151.0 million. Underlying net income increased
by 29.4% or EUR 15.0 million year-on-year to EUR 65.6 million. In
the first nine months of 2013, consolidated revenues increased
12.6% to EUR 1.765 billion (previous year: EUR 1.567 billion).
Recurring EBITDA went up by 6.3% to EUR 488.2 million in the
nine-month period (previous year: EUR 459.1 million). Underlying
net income climbed to EUR 221.1 million, 15.4% up on the
previous year (EUR 191.6 million).
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group's Digital & Adjacent activities
again made the greatest contribution to growth in the third quarter
of 2013. The Digital & Adjacent segment's share in consolidated
revenues increased to 21.5% or EUR 124.1 million (previous year:
16.0 % or EUR 81.2 million).
Thomas Ebeling, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG: "We
significantly increased revenues and earnings again in the third
quarter of 2013. We continue to expand dynamically in the Digital
& Adjacent segment. Our digital activities already contribute
more than 20% of our consolidated revenues. In the years to come,
we will extend our leading position as a digital entertainment
& e-commerce-powerhouse. By 2018, we want to generate EUR 1
billion extra revenues compared to 2012. With our strong core
business and new growth areas, we are in the best position to
achieve this."
Broadcasting German-Speaking Segment: Audience Market
Share in Germany Expanded Considerably
In the Broadcasting German-speaking segment, external revenues
rose by 6.5% to EUR 421.9 million in the third quarter of 2013
(previous year: EUR 396.0 million). In the first nine months,
revenues rose by 4.4% to EUR 1.350 billion. The ProSiebenSat.1
Group again increased its revenues in the areas free TV financed by
advertising and distribution.
The station group's share of the German audience market grew
considerably by 1.7 percentage points to 28.5% (previous year:
26.8%). Once again, this made SAT.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, sixx,
SAT.1 Gold and ProSieben MAXX market leaders ahead of the stations
marketed by IP (24.8%). The ProSiebenSat.1 Group's new TV stations
continued to perform well: The men's channel ProSieben MAXX
achieved a market share of 0.4% in September 2013 - barely four
weeks after its launch. The women's channel sixx closed the third
quarter of 2013 with 1.3% (previous year: 1.0%). All market shares
relate to viewers aged between 14 and 49.
The station family also continued to grow in the TV advertising
market in the third quarter of 2013. The ProSiebenSat.1 stations
extended their market leadership by 1.3 percentage points to 43.8%
gross. In Germany, the station group also grew slightly faster than
the rest of the market on a net basis. The station family also
benefited in the TV advertising market from the expansion of its TV
portfolio: sixx, SAT.1 Gold, and ProSieben MAXX gained more than 40
new advertising customers in the first nine months of the year. The
Group also posted increasing TV advertising market shares in
Austria and Switzerland on a net basis.
At the same time, revenues from the distribution business
continued to grow dynamically due to rising subscription figures in
Germany: Compared to the previous year, the number of
ProSiebenSat.1 HD customers shot up by 72% to 3.9 million (previous
year: 2.3 million). In the basic pay TV business, the number of
subscribers increased by 12% to four million (previous year:
3.6 million). The Group anticipates a continuation of this
positive trend in the next few years. This will ensure the
continuing growth of the Broadcasting German-speaking segment's
share in recurring revenues independent on the TV advertising
market.
In spite of higher costs related to the expansion of the station
portfolio, recurring EBITDA increased by 1.9% to EUR 126.6 million
in the third quarter of 2013 (previous year: EUR 124.3 million).
Over the nine-month period, recurring EBITDA in the Broadcasting
German-speaking segment increased by 2.0% to EUR 420.0 million
(previous year: EUR 411.8 million).
Revenues and Earnings in Digital & Adjacent Segment
Continue to Grow Strongly
The Group again considerably increased its external revenues in
the Digital & Adjacent segment in the third quarter of 2013:
They rose 52.9% to EUR 124.1 million (previous year: EUR 81.2
million). The share of Digital & Adjacent activities in
consolidated revenues increased to 21.5% in the third quarter. Over
the first nine months of the year, revenues growth exceeded the
previous year's figure by 54.1% and climbed to EUR 333.4
million.
Segment growth was again driven most strongly by the digital
commerce business: Alongside the online travel business Tropo, the
majority holdings fully consolidated for the first time this year,
billiger-mietwagen.de (second quarter) and mydays.de (third
quarter), made major contributions to revenues.
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group's digital entertainment offers again
performed successfully in the third quarter of 2013: With a market
share of 48% and 464 million video views, the Group was again
Germany's leading seller of video content online. With maxdome, the
Group operates the largest online video library in Germany. It
offers users over 56,000 titles on demand and is the market leader
in the video-on-demand business with a share of 35 %. In the
third quarter of 2013, ProSiebenSat.1 launched maxdome in Austria.
Moreover, the Group continued to develop its new online music
service AMPYA: The streaming portal is significantly increasing its
reach through partnerships with Bild.de and Vodafone. Over 220,000
users registered with AMPYA in the third quarter.
Despite costs rising due to expansion, the Digital &
Adjacent segment's dynamic revenues trend led to significantly
higher earnings: Recurring EBITDA increased by 36.5% to EUR 27.2
million in the third quarter of 2013 (previous year: EUR 20.0
million). Between January and September 2013, recurring EBITDA
climbed 28.1% to EUR 71.6 million.
Red Arrow Entertainment Group Remains on Course of
Expansion
In the third quarter of 2013, the Red Arrow Entertainment Group
increased its external revenues by 5.6% to EUR 30.9 million
(previous year: EUR 29.2 million). Between January and September
2013, external revenues moved up by 40.0% to EUR 81.4 million
(previous year: EUR 58.2 million). This was impacted by the initial
consolidation of the US production company Left/Right in the third
quarter of 2012. Red Arrow acquired a majority interest in the
production company in the middle of last year. Since then,
Left/Right has been contributing significantly to the Group's
revenues growth.
With 16 holdings in nine countries, Red Arrow is one of the top
ten independent production companies in the world. In the last
three years, the ProSiebenSat.1 subsidiary has established itself
with successful programs in the USA and Great Britain, the world's
most important TV markets. Since the program distribution company
Red Arrow International opened an office in Hong Kong in summer
2012, the format distributor has been one of the top 3 suppliers of
programs for the dynamically growing Chinese TV market. In October
2013, Red Arrow International sold the TV show "The Taste" to
China's second largest television station CCTV2. At the same time,
the Red Arrow Entertainment Group is expanding its production
business for platform operators and thus gaining access to a new
order market: Red Arrow is currently producing the crime series
"Harry Bosch" for Amazon.
Recurring EBITDA amounted to minus EUR 2.1 million in the third
quarter of 2013 compared to minus EUR 1.4 million in the previous
year. Over the nine-month period, recurring EBITDA in the Content
Production & Global Sales segment improved by EUR 1.5 million
to minus EUR 0.3 million (previous year: minus EUR 1.9
million).
ProSiebenSat.1 Further Investing in Strategic Growth
Areas
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is securing itself long-term growth
prospects by developing strategically relevant parts of the Group.
The objective is to tap into additional sources of revenues both in
the TV core business and the other two segments. In the third
quarter of 2013, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group invested further in its
station portfolio, for example, by launching the men's station
ProSieben MAXX, and also acquired new investments in the Digital
& Adjacent segment. Against this backdrop, operating costs
increased by 16.6 % to EUR 429.1 million in the third
quarter of 2013 (previous year: EUR 368.0 million). In the first
nine months of 2013, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group invested around EUR
60 million in cash acquisitions. The majority went on the
acquisition of billiger-mietwagen.de. In the third quarter of 2013,
the volume of cash acquisitions was EUR 1.5 million.
Solid Financing Structure
In the third quarter of 2013, the Group's net financial debt on
the basis of continuing operations fell significantly by 15.9% or
EUR 328.0 million compared to September 30, 2012, to EUR 1.738
billion. The decline is primarily due to the net cash inflow from
the sale of the Northern European business. Against this backdrop,
the leverage factor continued to improve year-on-year. As of
September 30, 2013, the ratio of net financial debt to recurring
EBITDA of the last twelve months (LTM recurring EBITDA) gave a
factor of 2.2. The leverage factor is thus within the target range
of 1.5 to 2.5. As of the previous year's reporting date on
September 30, 2012, it was 2.4 times recurring EBITDA.
ProSiebenSat.1 Group Confirms Positive Outlook for
Fiscal 2013
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group continued its positive business
performance in the third quarter of 2013 and again developed
dynamically in its growth areas. At the same time, the Group posted
high growth in its TV advertising revenues compared to the TV
advertising market as a whole. This is primarily attributable to
very low comparative figures from the previous year.
Based on current knowledge, in the fourth quarter of 2013 the
Group's German TV advertising business will perform more strongly
than the market and be around the level of the same quarter of the
previous year, which was one of the strongest final quarters in the
history of ProSiebenSat.1. At the same time, the Group will
continue to invest considerably in its growth areas such as its
recently launched TV stations and its digital entertainment and
ventures activities.
Overall, the Group expects another good result in the current
fourth quarter, albeit, due to the investments, the earnings growth
rate in the current fourth quarter will likely be lower than in the
first nine months.
Therefore, the Group will once again achieve a record result in
2013 and confirms its positive full year outlook for the current
financial year.
Contact:
Julian Geist
Corporate Spokesman
ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Medienallee 7
D-85774 Unterföhring
Phone +49 [89] 95 07-1151
Fax +49 [89] 95 07-91151
Email:
Julian.Geist@ProSiebenSat1.com
Stefanie Prinz
Head of Corporate Communications and Finance
ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Medienallee 7
D-85774 Unterföhring
Phone +49 [89] 95 07-1199
Fax +49 [89] 95 07-91199
Email:
Stefanie.Prinz@ProSiebenSat1.com