Leading European entertainment network RTL Group reported higher EBITA and net profit in H1-2013

• RTL Group delivers on its strategic growth plan, stepping up its investments in broadcast, content and digital
• Based on its strong cash flows, RTL Group will pay out an extraordinary interim dividend of €2.50 per share in September 2013

Luxembourg, 26-8-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — RTL Group, the leading European entertainment network, announces its interim results to 30 June 2013.

Highlights

¹ Adjusted for scope changes and at constant exchange rates
² EBITA (continuing operations) represents earnings before interest and taxes excluding impairment of goodwill and of disposal group, and amortisation and impairment of fair value adjustments on acquisitions of subsidiaries and joint ventures, reversal of/(loss on) impairment of investment in associates, re-measurement of earn-out arrangements and gain or loss from sale of subsidiaries, other investments and re-measurement to fair value of pre-existing interest in acquiree

RTL Group continues to create value

• TV advertising market conditions remained challenging in the first half of 2013: only the German net TV advertising market was estimated to be stable year-on-year, while all of RTL Group’s other core markets decreased. Accordingly, reported Group revenue was slightly down 1.3 per cent to €2,779 million
• RTL Group’s EBITA increased significantly by 9.1 per cent to €552 million; the second best first-half EBITA in the Group’s history
• Reported EBITA margin also increased significantly, reaching 19.9 per cent, compared to 18.0 per cent in the first half of 2012
• Net profit attributable to RTL Group shareholders was up 52.6 per cent to €418 million, mainly reflecting higher operating profit and a reversal of a 2012 impairment, totalling €72 million, on RTL Group’s shareholding in the Spanish broadcasting company Atresmedia (formerly Grupo Antena 3)
• Net cash from operating activities of €581 million, resulting in an operating cash conversion of 120 per cent; RTL Group had net financial debt of €224 million as of 30 June 2013
• On 21 August 2013, RTL Group’s Board of Directors authorised the distribution of an extraordinary interim dividend of €2.50 per share, to be paid in September 2013. This decision is a reflection of the Group’s strong cash flows and its target net debt to full-year EBITDA ratio of 0.5 to 1.0 times

All major profit centres of RTL Group achieved either higher or stable EBITA, despite the tough economic environment

• EBITA of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland increased by 9.3 per cent to €306 million – the best ever first-half operating profit for RTL Group’s largest profit centre; the German RTL family of channels achieved a combined audience share of 31.2 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 59, and increased its market leadership to 6.7 percentage points over its main commercial competitor
• Groupe M6 outperformed in tough market conditions: while the French TV advertising market was estimated to be down 6.0 per cent in the first half of the year, Groupe M6’s EBITA was slightly up to €127 million and the company continued to gain TV advertising market share
• FremantleMedia reported a higher EBITA of €47 million (H1/2012: €40 million), mainly driven by increased contributions from FremantleMedia North America and FremantleMedia Asia Pacific; the results also demonstrated the benefits of previous restructuring on costs
•  RTL Nederland’s EBITA was stable at €38 million, despite an estimated 5.6 per cent decline of the Dutch TV advertising market; the unit also reported a stable combined prime time audience share of 32.4 per cent in the commercial target group, maintaining a clear lead of 12.1 percentage points over its main commercial competitor
• RTL Belgium and the RTL radio family in France remained clear market leaders and generated stable profit contributions

RTL Group is delivering on its strategy “broadcast – content – digital” to generate future growth

Broadcast: RTL Group invests significantly in strengthening its existing broadcasting businesses and expanding into new growth markets

• RTL Television secured the highly attractive rights to broadcast the qualifying matches of the German national team for the European Football Championship 2016 and Football World Cup 2018
• RTL Group will form a venture with the number one US network CBS for the launch of two thematic pay channels in South East Asia
• RTL Hrvatska has been awarded a license for a new kids and family channel to be named RTL Kockica; the free-to-air channel is scheduled for launch in autumn 2013

Content: In the first half of 2013 FremantleMedia concluded its strategic realignment to create a clearer focus for its future as a stronger and more unified company, which is scaling up investment in the creative pipeline and format development across all genres

• Licensing, sponsorship, digital and other commercial ancillary activities are now embedded into FremantleMedia’s local production operations
• Global sales of finished content, format sales in non-production territories, and acquisition and development of new programmes for the international market are now handled by the newly created division FremantleMedia International

Digital: RTL Group continues to grow its digital presence, both organically and through targeted investment in high-growth areas

• In June 2013, RTL Group acquired a 51 per cent majority stake in Broadband TV, Youtube’s fifth largest Multi-Channel Network (MCN). Broadband TV manages more than 8,500 channels and generates around 800 million video views per month. With this strategic partnership, RTL Group has become the number 4 player on Youtube (excluding music video services) and strengthened its position in North America – the biggest and most innovative media market in the world
• In July 2013, RTL Nederland acquired a 65 per cent stake in The Entertainment Group, the leading pay video-on-demand (VOD) company in the Netherlands, which operates the VOD services Videoland and Movie Max Online
• Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland continued to expand its digital distribution with extensive new content agreements to broadcast its linear TV channels via the online platforms Zattoo and Magine
• RTL Group is extending its strong and rapidly growing presence across all digital platforms. In the first half of 2013:

o RTL Group’s video services and websites attracted a total 4.8 billion online video views, up 35 per cent year-on-year

o Thereof, FremantleMedia’s more than 100 Youtube channels attracted 2.9 billion online video views, up 86 per cent year-on-year

o Online video advertising was up 39 per cent in Germany, 24 per cent in France, and 34 per cent in the Netherlands year-on-year

“Clear focus on executing our growth strategy”

Joint statement from Anke Schäferkordt and Guillaume de Posch, Co-Chief Executive Officers of RTL Group:

“Our strong interim results again demonstrate the resilience of our diversified portfolio and business model. Despite a tough economic environment, all profit indicators – EBITA, profit margin and net result – were significantly up and we generated the second best first-half EBITA in the company’s history.

RTL Group also continues to deliver strong cash flows, which is enabling both continued investment in future growth and attractive cash returns for shareholders. This is demonstrated by the significant progress we have made this year across our three strategic pillars ‘broadcast – content – digital’, and we have combined this with an extraordinary interim dividend of €2.50 per share.

Our broadcast and content brands remain strong. With our recent transactions – the strategic partnership with Broadband TV and the acquisition of the leading pay video-on-demand operator in the Netherlands – we have given a particular boost to our presence and expertise in the digital distribution space. After these investments, RTL Group will attract more than 15 billion online video views for the year 2013. We are clearly on track to reach our goal of being a leading player in online video and online video advertising.

Looking at the financial performance for the year-end, visibility on the important fourth quarter remains limited. Assuming no unexpected deterioration of markets and with the strong results in the first six months of 2013, we are increasingly confident that we will achieve a similar level of EBITA for the full year as in 2012.”
The half-year financial report 2013, slides from the analyst presentation and MP3 files of the analyst and media calls will be available to download at:

www.rtlgroup.com/results_hy2013.aspx

For further information please contact:
RTL Group – Media
Oliver Fahlbusch
Corporate Communications
Phone: +352/2486 5210
oliver.fahlbusch@rtlgroup.com

RTL Group – Investor Relations
Andrew Buckhurst
Investor Relations
Phone: +352/2486 5074
andrew.buckhurst@rtlgroup.com

About RTL Group
RTL Group is the leading European entertainment network, with interests in 53 television channels and 28 radio stations in ten countries and content production throughout the world. The television portfolio of Europe’s largest broadcaster includes RTL Television in Germany, M6 in France, the RTL channels in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia, Hungary and Antena 3 in Spain – the company also operates the joint venture channel Big RTL Thrill in India. RTL Group’s flagship radio station is RTL in France, and it also owns or has interests in other stations in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Luxembourg.  RTL Group’s content production arm, FremantleMedia, is one of the largest international creators, producers and distributors of multi-genre content outside the US. With operations in 22 countries, FremantleMedia’s comprehensive global network creates over 9,200 hours of programming a year and distributes over 20,000 hours of content worldwide.