Revenue diversification lifts M6

Revenue diversification helped lift French commercial broadcaster M6 to modest year-on-year revenue growth despite a fall in traditional advertising revenue in 2014.

Non-advertising revenue grew by 3.7% to €461 million and advertising other than on free-to-air channels grew by 1.9% to €46.9 million. Free-to-advertising revenues slid by 1.7% to €750.1 million. Overall, revenues grew by 0.4% to €1.258 billion.

EBITA grew by 13.7% in the second half of the year after a fall in the first half, contributing to a net profit of €123.2 million, up 9.9%.

Revenue from production and rights grew by 3.8% to €111.4 million, while diversified revenues increased by 5.4% to €333 million, with M6 Web turning in an EBITA profit of €33.6 million, up from €32.7 million. E-business unit Ventadis saw its EBITA rise by 4.7% to €22.7 million.