ProSiebenSat.1, a company listed on the SDAX, has had an unexpectedly strong first quarter despite challenges in the TV advertising market. With a six percent increase in revenue to 867 million euros, the television group significantly exceeded analysts' expectations, as reported from Unterföhring on Monday evening. The growth was primarily driven by the success of the streaming service Joyn and the smaller, yet profitable e-commerce segment.
The adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) improved by about a third to 72 million euros. The adjusted group net income reached 8 million euros, after a loss of 15 million euros had been recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The positive development was also reflected in the stock price, which increased by one percent on the Tradegate trading platform. ProSiebenSat.1 confirmed its annual forecast, which anticipates total revenue between 3.8 and 4.1 billion euros and EBITDA between 525 and 625 million euros. The complete quarterly figures are scheduled to be published on May 14.
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The group also announced that as part of cost-cutting measures, over 500 full-time positions have already been eliminated, and annual costs have been reduced by 100 million euros gross. Group CEO Bert Habets commented that further cost reductions and possibly more staff cuts are planned for the future.
The upcoming General Meeting on April 30 is of particular focus, where a vote will be held on the proposed split of the media conglomerate into two publicly traded companies. The major shareholder MediaForEurope (MFE) is pushing to separate the core business around TV and streaming from peripheral activities such as Flaconi, Verivox, Billiger-Mietwagen.de, and ParshipMeet. Skeptics see this as an attempt by the Italians to secure the profitable parts of the company without having to take over the less interesting business areas. MFE, which holds nearly 30 percent of ProSiebenSat.1, had already demanded the spin-off of these segments in the past in order to create "added value".
