RTL Group said its revenues fell by 9.5 percent year-on-year in 2020 to EUR 6.01 billion compared with EUR 6.65 billion in 2019, mainly due to declining TV advertising markets across Europe in Q2 and lower revenues from content production, resulting from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenues were down 6.8 percent organically. Revenues in TV advertising business were up 0.8 percent year-on-year in the second half of 2020, and up 2.8 percent year-on-year in Q4. Streaming revenue from TV Now and Videoland grew by 20.6 percent to EUR 170 million last year, compared with EUR 141 million in 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA at group level decreased by 26.2 percent in 2020 to EUR 853 million. The adjusted EBITA margin was 14.2 percent. Net profit in 2020 fell by 27.7 percent to EUR 625 million, compared with EUR 864 million the prior year, mainly due to the decrease in adjusted EBITA. The decrease was partially offset by lower income tax expenses and capital gains. Net cash from operating activities stood at EUR 933 million. Without counting the dividend payment for the financial year 2019 in 2020, RTL had net cash of EUR 236 million at the end of 2020, compared with EUR 384 million at end of 2019. Net debt stood at EUR 384 million in 2020.
RTL Group’s board of directors has proposed a dividend of EUR 3.00 per share for 2020, of which EUR 2.50 represents an ordinary dividend and the remaining EUR 0.50 relates to the distribution of cash capital gains. For 2021, RTL expects revenues to increase to approximately EUR 6.2 billion including organic growth of 8 percent and the effects of the deconsolidation of BroadbandTV. Adjusted EBITA for 2021 will grow to approximately EUR 975 million, including streaming start-up losses of approximately EUR 150 million. The outlook is based on the assumption that the economic recovery continues in 2021, in particular in Q2. RTL Group's dividend policy remains unchanged, and it plans to pay out at least 80 percent of the adjusted full-year net result.
RTL recorded 2.19 million paying subscribers for its streaming services TV Now in Germany and Videoland in the Netherlands at the end of 2020, up 52 percent year-on-year. Paying subscribers for TV Now grew by 64 percent to 1.28 million compared with 780,000 at the end of 2019. Paying subscribers for Videoland grew by 38 percent to 903,000 last year compared with 653,000 in 2019. It expects paying subscribers to grow to 5-7 million by 2025, and steaming revenues to rise to EUR 500 million from EUR 170 million in 2020. Content spend per year will grow to EUR 350 million by 2025 from EUR 117 million last year.
