ProSiebenSat.1 increases revenues in Q3 2017Revenues increase by 3% to EUR 883 million
Adjusted EBITDA stable at EUR 202 million
The Group generates 52% of revenues outside the TV advertising business in first nine months of the year
ProSiebenSat.1 adjusts financial outlook for the full year 2017
TV advertising business with strong start into the fourth quarter
Munich, November 8, 2017. ProSiebenSat.1 Group increased its revenues by 3% to EUR 883 million in the third quarter of 2017 (previous year: EUR 857 million) despite the anticipated restrained development of the TV advertising business. Adjusted EBITDA remained stable at EUR 202 million (previous year: EUR 202 million), while adjusted net income recorded a slight increase of 1% to EUR 99 million (previous year: EUR 98 million).
The Group's TV advertising revenues in the Broadcasting German-speaking segment in the third quarter of 2017 were in line with expectations of the Group adjusted in August 2017 and below the previous year's level. At the same time, ProSiebenSat.1 continued its growth outside the TV advertising business, with the distribution business, the multi-channel network Studio71 and the ad-tech area all making strong contributions to the Group's revenue growth. The Digital Ventures & Commerce segment posted another significant increase of 25% in its external revenues. The main drivers for this development were the online dating portals Parship and ElitePartner, the health product provider WindStar and the lifestyle platforms Flaconi and Amorelie. The online travel agency Etraveli was deconsolidated in the third quarter. These effects were considerably more than compensated by the first-time revenue contributions from PARSHIP ELITE Group and WindStar. The deconsolidation profit from the Etraveli sale was mainly offset by extraordinary balance sheet effects that are expensed through the income statement, including a strategic reevaluation of parts of the programming assets.
The operative developments also made an impact on the first nine months of the year: Revenues increased by 8% to EUR 2,755 million (previous year: EUR 2,545 million), adjusted EBITDA improved by 6% to EUR 661 million (previous year: EUR 626 million), while adjusted net income grew by 7% to EUR 331 million (previous year: EUR 311 million). In the first nine months of the year, the Group generated 52% of its revenues outside the TV advertising business (previous year: 46%).
Thomas Ebeling, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: We have consistently diversified our business over the recent years: With its dynamic growth, our commerce business now contributes significantly to our earnings. We want to continue this successful strategy and thus base our Group structure on three strong pillars.
Recently, ProSiebenSat.1 has further strengthened the Group's portfolio with strategic acquisitions: The Company has closed the majority acquisition of Jochen Schweizer GmbH, a leading provider of experience gifts, and has acquired a majority interest in the successful US film distributor Gravitas Ventures. ProSiebenSat.1 is also continuing its investments in the growth areas of data and addressable TV: Thanks to a data cooperation with the Retail Media Group, whose retail partner network includes Media Markt, Saturn, Metro and Thalia, the Company offers customers new advertising products with an even greater target group focus. In addition, ProSiebenSat.1 has expanded its targeting options in the addressable TV business and is also planning to adjust advertising spots next year individually based on TV and commerce data.
ProSiebenSat.1 adjusts financial outlook for the full year 2017
In the first six weeks of the fourth quarter 2017, the Group's TV advertising business developed positively as expected and has grown by a mid-single digit percentage compared to the previous year. An overall statement regarding the TV advertising business in the fourth quarter will however only be possible after the end of the month of December which shows strong comparable figures versus the previous year for ProSiebenSat.1.
The Content Production & Global Sales segment is expected to record a double-digit percentage decrease in revenues in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year's period. Main reasons for this development are strong comparison figures as well as shifts of some productions to the next year. Furthermore, the structural challenges for parts of the Digital Entertainment segment are continuing. In combination with a planned increase in programming costs in the Broadcasting German-speaking segment in the fourth quarter, ProSiebenSat.1 currently expects that both adjusted EBITDA (Q4 2016: EUR 392 million) and adjusted net income (Q4 2016: EUR 226 million) for the Group will be below the respective previous year's figure in the fourth quarter.
Therefore, ProSiebenSat.1 adjusts its financial outlook for the full year 2017 and now anticipates Group revenues to grow by a mid-single digit percentage range (2016: EUR 3,799 million). Previously, ProSiebenSat.1 expected an increase at least at a high-single digit percentage. Besides the expected revenue development in the fourth quarter 2017, this adjustment reflects the respective slight decrease in revenues in the Broadcasting German-speaking and Digital Entertainment segments in the first nine months as well as the deconsolidation effects from the disposal of Etraveli.
Against the backdrop of the expected earnings development in the fourth quarter, ProSiebenSat.1 now anticipates for the full year a more moderate earnings improvement than before and expects the Group's adjusted EBITDA (2016: EUR 1,018 million) and adjusted net income (2016: EUR 536 million) to slightly exceed the previous year's level, respectively.
Previously, ProSiebenSat.1 expected both the Group's
