RTL revenues up 2.1% in 2018, passes 1 mln paid streaming subscribers

News Video Europe 14 MRT 2019
RTL revenues up 2.1% in 2018, passes 1 mln paid streaming subscribers

RTL Group reported revenues of EUR 6.505 billion for 2018, up 2.1 percent and led by expansion online, at production unit Fremantle and at RTL Netherlands. Organic revenue growth was 2.8 percent, in line with the broadcaster's guidance. RTL said it increased the digital share of revenue to 15.1 percent from 13.0 percent in 2017 and plans to invest more in its streaming services in the coming years. 

Reported EBITDA fell 5.7 percent to EUR 1.380 billion. Adjusted for the positive one-off effect from the sale of RTL’s buildings in Paris, EBITDA was slightly up 0.7 percent. The EBITDA margin was 21.2 percent, down from 23.0 percent in 2017. 

Net profit declined 9.6 percent to EUR 668 million, mainly due to a goodwill impairment on StyleHaul amounting to EUR 105 million. The company maintained its final dividend at EUR 3 per share.

Over 1 million streaming subscribers

RTL said it will continue to focus on growing its local streaming services and content creation to compete on the increasingly global video market. The group will invest at least EUR 350 million to expand the streaming services over the next three years, including EUR 300 million dedicated to content investments across all genres. 

At the end of 2018, the paid subscriber bases of its streaming services, mainly TV Now Premium in Germany and Videoland in the Netherlands, reached together over 1 million, and the company aims to grow its streaming services to at least 3 million paid subscribers in the next three years. VOD revenue is expected to grow from EUR 216 million in 2018 to at least EUR 360 million in 2021.

For 2019, RTL again expects revenue growth of 2.5-5.0 percent excluding forex effects, led by the digital business and Fremantle. The company has resumed giving a forecast for EBITA and expects the result to fall 2.5-5.0 percent this year, reflecting investments into the broadcast TV schedules and VOD service. In 2018, EBITA declined 6.2 percent to EUR 1.171 billion. 

The company also announced that it plans to de-list its shares from Euronext Brussels due to low levels of trading there. It will maintain listings in Frankfurt and Luxembourg.

Categories:

Video

Companies:

RTL Group,  Videoland

Regions:

Europe

Tags:

Financial figures

Related Articles

NETHERLANDS 29 AUG 2019

Videoland to put EUR 1 mln into Academy

Dutch VoD services provider Videoland is making EUR 1 million available to young film and documentary makers, De Volkskrant reported. The Videoland Academy fits in with RTL's strategy of competing with services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, said RTL director Sven Sauve.

GERMANY 28 JUN 2019

RTL sets strategic goals to expand TVNow streaming service, in-house productions

The CEO of German broadcaster RTL, Bernd Reichart said that the strategic goals of the group are reinforcing the core business with a focus on in-house productions and expanding the TVNow VOD platform and tech expertise in order to consolidate the position in the German market.   

EUROPE 16 MEI 2019

RTL Group revenues rise over 7% in Q1, boosted by organic growth, VoD platforms in Germany, Netherlands

RTL Group reiterated its full year guidance after reporting strong revenue growth in the first quarter, boosted by organic gains, Fremantle and Digital (MPNs & SpotX), as well as subscriber additions for the company's VoD platforms in Germany and the Netherlands. Revenues for the quarter rose 7.2 percent from the year before to EUR 1.518 billion, with the 2 percent decline at Broadcast to EUR 1.084 billion offset by organic revenues lifting 7.2 percent to EUR 1.496 billion, Content (Fremantle) jumping 41.

CROATIA (HRVATSKA) 15 APR 2019

Puskaric to succeed Tewes as CEO of RTL Croatia

RTL Group appointed Marc Puskaric as new CEO of RTL Croatia, effective 1 July. Puskaric, currently Managing Director of Bertelsmann Brazil Investments and the Bertelsmann Corporate Center in Brazil, will succeed Henning Tewes, who will join Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland as COO Programme Affairs & Multichannel. In his new function, Puskaric will report to Andreas Fischer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of RTL Croatia and SVP Global Operations Management Broadcast and Content of RTL Group. With his new role

EUROPE 1 APR 2019

Bertelsmann CEO to take over as RTL CEO after Habets steps down

RTL announced its CEO Bert Habets is stepping down for personal reasons. Chairman Thomas Rabe will become CEO, and Martin Taylor, currently Vice Chairman of the croup, has been appointed as chairman.

GLOBAL 18 MRT 2019

Last week in media: Snap outperforms, Spotify battles Apple and platforms feel regulatory heat

Walt Disney scored at the box office with its latest Marvel movie and it announced the closing date for the 21st Century Fox takeover. The Modern Times Group hosted two capital market days, one for its own games-related activities and one for the VOD-centered NENT Group, soon to be spun off. Alphabet and Facebook came under regulatory fire in more than one way. Spotify clashed with Apple over the latter's App Store revenue share. All in all, things turned out well for the Telecompaper Stock Index Global Con

NETHERLANDS 15 MRT 2019

RTL Netherlands revenues up 6.8% in Q4, EBITA falls

RTL Netherlands reported revenues of EUR 156 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier, while its EBITA fell 24 percent over the same period to EUR 29 million. RTL said revenue growth came from the TV advertising market, as well as its VOD service Videoland and other digital activities. Platform costs, such as distribution with operators, increased sharply in 2018 due to new contracts. 

EUROPE 19 DEC 2018

RTL Group to combine Digimove, UFA X from Jan

RTL Group will combine Divimove and UFA X from 1 January. The move will bring together RTL's production, aggregation and monetisation of short-form video content in Europe. RTL said UFA X, with its offices in Berlin and Cologne, will significantly enhance Divimove's capabilities in digital storytelling and format development. RTL acquired United Screens, a Sweden-based multi-platform network (MPN) in January. It said it recently upped its shareholding in Berlin-based Divimove to 100 percent, with effect fro

EUROPE 5 DEC 2018

RTL outlines plans to expand VoD business

European broadcaster RTL has reiterated plans to invest more in local VoD services. At its annual group Management Summit in Luxembourg, the company said it's building a common technology platform for its German, French and Dutch channels to offer VoD services. More details on the VoD plans will be presented with its annual results in March. 

EUROPE 8 NOV 2018

RTL confirms FY outlook as EBITDA falls 3.4% in Q3

RTL Group reported third-quarter revenues of EUR 1.42 billion, representing an annual growth rate of 3.6 percent (stable from Q2). EBITDA fell to EUR 254 million, down 3.4 percent year-on-year (+4.7% in Q2), mainly as a result of a lower contribution from Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, due to declining TV advertising revenue. Net profit attributable to the group fell to EUR 106 million, from EUR 114 million a year earlier.

EUROPE 4 SEP 2018

RTL drops pursuit of Endemol Shine to focus on VoD, scripted content - CEO

RTL said it no longer is seeking to purchase Endemol Shine, as the company is instead choosing to focus on other growth initiatives including building mass audience video-on-demand (VoD) services and expanding FremantleMedia's drama output, reported Digital TV Europe.

NETHERLANDS 30 AUG 2018

Videoland subscriber numbers jump 122% in 12 mths

Dutch VoD services provider Videoland has seen the number of paying subscribers increase by 122 percent in the year to 30 June, according to recent figures provided by RTL. The exact number of subscribers of the VoD brand at RTL is not mentioned.

EUROPE 29 AUG 2018

RTL results recover in Q2, revenues up 3.6%

RTL Group saw its second-quarter results strengthen on the back of expansion in digital services and its production arm FreemantleMedia. Revenues rose 3.6 percent to EUR 1.63 billion, and EBITDA grew 4.7 percent to EUR 379 million, supported by growth in the Netherlands and France. 

EUROPE 17 MEI 2018

RTL Q1 profit down on football losses, TV business grows

RTL Group reported a small drop in first-quarter profits, as negative currency effects and losses in football offset growth in Germany and the Netherlands. The broadcaster's revenues totaled EUR 1.416 billion, up slightly from EUR 1.405 billion a year ago, while EBITDA dropped to EUR 259 million from EUR 264 million. 

EUROPE 7 MRT 2018

RTL revenues, EBITDA reach record levels in 2017

RTL Group reported full year results, with EBITDA rising ahead of expectations on the back of higher contributions from Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and its production arm FrementleMedia, plus a one-off gain of EUR 94 million for the sale of property in Paris. With revenues also reaching record levels, the company said it will propose a final dividend of EUR 3 per share, on top of the interim dividend of EUR 1 per share it already paid out in September. As a strategic priority, RTL Group said it will now pu

Just In

14:00

Vi introduces Niyo Zero Forex Markup Card for travelers

13:39

True reshuffles executive team

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.