RTL Group sees profit surge amid streaming growth, reaffirms full-year outlook

RTL Group reported a 1.8% increase in H1 revenue, reaching €2.9 billion, up from €2.8 billion in H1 2023. This growth was fueled by higher TV advertising and a significant rise in streaming revenue. However, adjusted EBITA experienced a slight decrease to €172 million, compared to €181 million in the previous year, largely due to increased content investments. Despite this, the group's total profit surged by 31.1% to €173 million, up from €132 million.

The company also reported a substantial growth in its streaming services, RTL+ and M6+, with paying subscribers increasing by 24.8% to 6.3 million. Streaming revenue also saw a notable rise of 41.9%, reaching €185 million in H1. Additionally, RTL Deutschland gained TV advertising market share, expanding its audience lead over ProSiebenSat1 in the target group by 7.6 percentage points.

Fremantle, RTL’s content production division, reported a decline in revenue, falling to €957 million from just over €1 billion in H1 2023. This drop was attributed to market developments and timing effects, although the full consolidation of the recently acquired Asacha Media Group provided some offset.

The group reaffirmed its full-year outlook, projecting revenue of around €6.6 billion.

Commenting on the results, Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, said, “We invest, partner and co-operate more than ever before to drive long-term performance and value creation. We have made significant progress in executing our strategy and transforming our businesses by investing, partnering and co-operating more than ever before. As a result, our TV audience performances were strong and our streaming services grew dynamically in the first six months of the year. RTL+ increased its viewing hours by almost 50 per cent across all age groups, and M6+ launched successfully. We are on track to reach our long-term streaming targets and thus profitability by 2026.”

Rabe also highlighted the success of partnerships, stating, “Our partnerships with Deutsche Telekom and Sky Deutschland are working well, and the advertising technology partnership with ProSiebenSat1 will start soon. With the planned migration of RTL+ to the Bedrock platform, we are creating a true European champion in streaming technology. With the acquisitions of Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures, we have invested €200 million to further expand our global content business Fremantle. Overall, our financial performance in the first half of 2024 was in line with our expectations, and we confirm our full-year guidance.”