ProSiebenSat.1 in the red
The media group ProSiebenSat.1 posted a loss of 56 million euros last quarter. The weak advertising market and restructuring costs weighed on earnings.
ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Bert Habets said on Thursday: "As expected, the second quarter continued to be characterized by a weak TV advertising market." In addition, the full consolidation of the streaming platform Joyn and a restructuring provision for the Group's reorganization, including the elimination of 400 jobs, weighed heavily on the quarterly result.
The new CFO Martin Mildner said that in the second half of the year he expected "a recovery in our advertising business and thus significant catch-up effects in sales and earnings. The MDAX-listed group confirmed its full-year forecast and expects sales of 4.1 billion euros and operating profit adjusted for special items of 600 million euros.
Media Group hopes for a strong end to the year
In the current third quarter, the operating result is expected to stagnate at the previous year's level. However, ProSiebenSat.1 announced that the last four months of the year, traditionally the strongest period for revenues and earnings in the advertising business, would be decisive.
In the second quarter, Group revenues fell 17 percent year on year to EUR 868 million. "Against the backdrop of the recessionary macroeconomic environment, advertising customers continued to invest only cautiously in TV advertising, as expected." This decline was only partially offset by growth in digital advertising revenues.
In addition, there was a shortfall in revenues from the US production business of Red Arrow Studios, which was sold in 2022. Revenues of the Dating & Video unit slumped by 18 percent, partly due to consumer restraint and partly due to stricter consumer protection rules affecting the subscription models of Parship and ElitePartner. By contrast, the online comparison portal Verivox and the online perfumery Flaconi made gains.
Jobs are cut
ProSiebenSat.1 announced that the Group's earnings were down "primarily due to the lower profitability of the advertising business. Adjusted operating income halved to EUR 79 million, and there was a loss after taxes of EUR 56 million. The restructuring provision of EUR 58 million made a major contribution to this.
Jobs that were filled twice after the acquisition of Joyn are now to be eliminated and costs reduced in order to be able to invest in digitalization and make ProSiebenSat.1 more profitable again in the long term. (SDA)
