RTL Group reported second-quarter revenues of EUR 1.573 billion, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier as growth at its production arm FreemantleMedia and its online business helped offset a slump in European TV advertising markets. EBITDA fell 7.4 percent to EUR 362 million, but excluding a one-time gain at M6 a year ago was up 4.0 percent on an annual basis. Net profit declined to EUR 183 million from EUR 203 million a year earlier.
RTL maintained its forecast for annual revenue growth of 2.5-5.0 percent in 2017 and stable EBITDA. The drop in EBITDA in the first half will be compensated by the planned sale of buildings in Paris in H2. However, RTL said it has decided not to go ahead at this time with a sale-leaseback of its buildings in Luxembourg.
To help offset weakness on the TV ad market, the company announced plans to buy the rest of the online video ad serving platform SpotX. RTL will pay USD 145 million for the remaining 36.4 percent of the company, with the acquisition expected to close in October. SpotX will work closely with its unit Smartclip to grow the digital business, also through further acquisitions.
