Mediaset sees recovery in sight despite dip in revenues

Mediaset expects revenues from its struggling pay TV arm, Mediaset Premium, to total €600 million for the full year, chief financial officer Marco Giordani told analysts after the group’s first-half results were released this week.

Giordani reportedly said that Mediaset had not been approached by Vivendi, with which it is engaged in a long-running legal dispute over the latter’s withdrawal from the plan to take control of Mediaset Premium, to take part in the planned joint-venture between Telecom Italia (TIM) and Canal+ in Italy.

Mediaset posted revenues of €1.846 billion for the first half, down from the €1.871 billion posted for the same period last year, which the broadcaster said benefited from unusually high cinema box office receipts.

Mediaset’s overall revenues fell by 4.7% for the first half, down from€1.156 billion to €1.101 billion, in line with or even ahead of its plan. EBIT rose from €96.1 million for the first half of last year to €212.8 million.

Mediaset saw some recovery in Italian advertising revenues in the first half, while revenue in the previously strong Spanish market fell.

The broadcaster’s Spanish revenues for the first half were €508.5 million, down from €521.6 million, pushed lower by a squeeze on advertising. In Italy, on the other hand, Mediaset’s ad revenues grew by 2.2%, despite a 3% fall in the overall advertising market.