ProSiebenSat.1 rebounds as ad market rises

ProSiebenSat.1 rebounded strongly last year as higher ad revenues boosted its top line growth to 11%, ending the year on €4.5 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA also grew strongly, up 19% to €840 million, with adjusted net income up 64%.

The group said it now expects current year revenues to reach €4.6 billion, with revenue growth forecast to be 4-5% a year for the medium to long term.

With the advertising market recovering from the pandemic, ProSiebenSat.1’s core entertainment segment was the main driver of growth, up 12% in revenue terms to €3.1 billion.

The broadcaster’s dating and video segment revenues were also up significantly on the back of its acquisition of US dating site outfit The Meet Group.

However, ProSiebenSat.1’s commerce and ventures unit saw revenues fall by10% to €854 million, largely due to the disposal of over-the-counter medicines provider WindStar Medical at the end of 2020.

The unit also took a hit from rising infection rates of COVID in Q4, which had a negative impact on its Jochen Schewizer mydays experience offering, while problems in the energy market negatively impacted price comparison service Verivox.

CEO Rainer Beaujean said that the group was “fully focused on creating even more value via cooperation between our business areas”

He said that the company was increasingly producting “local-reelevant content” in-house and highlighted to role of streaming JV Joyn as “the key element of our digital offering”.

Analysts at Berenberg last month highlighted weaknesses in ProSiebenSat.1’s Q4 performance, setting a lower price target fter concluding that the German broadcaster’s advertising business performed better than expected but that its high-growth e-commerce activities performed less well in the final quarter of last year.