PARIS (dpa-AFX) - RTL Group (RGLXY), a media conglomerate, reported Thursday that its first-quarter Group revenue dropped 2 percent to 1.292 billion euros from last year's 1.318 billion euros.
The weak revenues mainly were due to lower content revenue from Fremantle and lower TV advertising revenue, partly offset by higher streaming revenue. Group revenue was down 5.6 percent organically.
RTL Group's total advertising revenue remained stable at 685 million euros.
Streaming and digital advertising revenue each grew by 29 percent, offsetting lower TV advertising revenue.
Paying streaming subscribers were up 18 percent year on year to 7.1 million, exceeding the seven million mark.
RTL Group further said it expects to obtain regulatory approvals for the sale of RTL Nederland to DPG Media in the second quarter of 2025.
Going ahead, the company continues to expect full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITA to increase to around 780 million euros from last year's 721 million euros, mainly due to lower streaming start-up losses.
RTL Group expects its full-year revenue to increase to around 6.45 billion euros from last year's 6.25 billion euros, mainly due to significantly higher streaming revenue and portfolio effects.
The geopolitical and macroeconomic environment remains volatile, and the impact on RTL Group's businesses continues to be hard to predict.
For the year paying subscribers are expected to be around 9 million, higher than last year's 6.8 million.
The company said it is firmly on track for streaming profitability in 2026.
RTL Group plans to pay out at least 80 per cent of its adjusted full-year net result.
Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, said, 'If advertising revenue fell short of expectations, we would reduce costs accordingly. We are confident that, in the medium term, the investment programme announced by the new German government will have a positive effect on GDP, private consumption and advertising spend.'
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