ProSiebenSat.1 starts 2023 as expected and confirms full-year outlook Group revenues in the first quarter as announced below previous year: Group revenues are still impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment in the German-speaking region as well as consolidation effects and declined to EUR 816 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Advertising market still very sensitive to the economy: Due to the ongoing consumer restraint, TV advertising revenues declined in the first quarter of 2023, while revenues from digital & smart advertising increased.
Commerce & Ventures segment with clear revenue growth: The most important growth drivers were the Beauty & Lifestyle business with flaconi and the online comparison portal Verivox (Consumer Advice).
Earnings impacted by development of the high-margin advertising business: As expected, adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was significantly below the previous year at EUR 53 million.
Full-year outlook confirmed under the assumption of a significant recovery of the economy and advertising business in the second half of the year: ProSiebenSat.1 expects slight organic revenue growth to around EUR 4.10 billion with a variance of plus/minus EUR 150 million and adjusted EBITDA of around EUR 600 million with a variance of plus/minus EUR 50 million.
Focus on organizational transformation: The Group is expanding the strategically relevant business areas and putting Joyn at the center of its entertainment activities. At the same time, ProSiebenSat.1 is focusing on cost efficiency, profitability and cash flow.
Unterf hring, May 26, 2023. ProSiebenSat.1 Group closed the first quarter of 2023 in line with expectations: Group revenues are still impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment and were thus 13% below the previous year at EUR 816 million in the first three months of the year (previous year: EUR 941 million). In particular as a result of the restraint in the advertising market as well as consolidation effects, revenues in the Entertainment business declined by 20% in the first quarter. The revenue increase of 17% in the Commerce & Ventures segment partially compensated for this. Organically1, Group revenues were down 8% year-on-year.
Bert Habets, Group CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: As expected, the macroeconomic environment continued to directly impact our advertising business in the first quarter of 2023. This is expected to continue in the second quarter, although somewhat less pronounced. We are already seeing significant improvements in advertising bookings in June compared to the previous months. Therefore, we currently expect adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter to be in the mid to high double-digit million EUR range. At the same time, we expect a significant recovery of our very profitable advertising business in the second half of the year, in parallel with the forecast economic upturn. In 2023, we are laying the foundation for profitable growth in the long-term. We are thus focusing clearly on cost efficiency and making targeted investments in the areas that are strategically important to us in order to make our offerings even more attractive, especially digitally. In this context, the focus is on Joyn. With the launch of our streaming platform in Austria, we have shown that a joint platform of private and public content is possible. We are also working intensively on this in Germany. Ultimately, its about giving viewers the best possible offer, directly addressing their needs and habits.
Operational development
In the first quarter of 2023, external revenues in the Entertainment segment decreased by 20% to EUR 527 million (previous year: EUR 663 million). Consolidation effects also had a negative impact on segment revenues: Due to its focus on the German-speaking region, ProSiebenSat.1 sold the US production business of Red Arrow Studios as of July 1, 2022, which had still contributed revenues of EUR 60 million in the first quarter of the previous year. Organically1, segment revenues were therefore 14% below the previous year. This is mainly due to the 12% decline in advertising revenues in the German-speaking region. As expected, consumer spending in the German-speaking region was also still significantly impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment in the first quarter of 2023. In addition, the previous year's quarter was not yet comparably impacted by the consequences of the Russia/Ukraine war, which broke out at the end of February 2022. At the same time, the decline in TV advertising revenues in the German-speaking region was partially compensated by growth in digital & smart advertising revenues, which increased by 8% in the German-speaking region. This is primarily driven by the positive development of the streaming platform Joyn and the audio segment.
In the Commerce & Ventures segment, external revenues grew to EUR 172 million in the first quarter of 2023 (previous year: EUR 147 million), an increase of 17%. Organic1 growth amounted to 18%. The most important growth drivers were the Beauty & Lifestyle business with flaconi and the online comparison portal Verivox. After prices for electricity and gas fell in the first quarter of 2023, competition picked up and consumers had incentives to switch tariffs, Verivox was able to significantly increase its revenues again. In contrast, the media-for-revenue and media-for-equity business of SevenVentures declined as expected, reflecting the current advertising market environment.
External revenues in the Dating & Video segment were at EUR 117 million, down by 11% year-on-year. Adjusted for currency effects of EUR 4 million, the decline was 14%. After the video business had grown very dynamically during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on public life, its revenues now declined at a high level in a very competitive environment
