Mediaset España increases its EBITDA to 26.89 million, with a net profit of 12.76

It is once again the most profitable television company in Spain thanks to its operating cost management strategy (€175.73M), which has reduced almost a quarter in the last four years (since the first quarter of 2010), which represents a saving of €55M, increasing its audience and advertising revenue compared to the first quarter of 2013.

Mediaset España has closed the first quarter of 2014 with a notable improvement in its operating margins and an increase in its profit. A positive balance sheet supported once again by a management model that has allowed the company to lead the market in all these years of crisis without debt and with a positive financial position.

En estos tres meses, marcados por una incipiente recuperación del mercado publicitario en televisión, la compañía ha consolidado por encima del doble dígito sus márgenes operativos con un EBITDA Ajustado de 26,89M€ (+3,84M€ respecto al mismo periodo del año pasado) situando su margen sobre ingresos netos en un 13,4%. El EBIT, por su parte, asciende a 22,65M€, lo que representa un aumento del 20,4% sobre el primer trimestre de 2013, con un margen sobre ingresos netos del 11,3%.

La compañía ha alcanzado estas excelentes cifras, inéditas entre ninguna otra compañía del sector audiovisual español, gracias al acierto de la política comercial de Publiespaña y a la estrategia de programación de Mediaset España, un modelo basado en la producción propia que desde el primer trimestre de 2010 le ha permitido reducir 55M€ sus costes operativos (175,73M€), lo que representa un ahorro de casi una cuarta parte en los últimos cuatro años, contracción que no ha impedido sin embargo crecer en audiencia e ingresos publicitarios.

The result of all this is a 1.6% improvement in adjusted net profit, which amounts to €16.56M, which represents a margin of 8.3% on revenue. The net result stands at €12.76M, with an improvement of 2.1% compared to the first months of 2013. This difference of €3.8M is due to the impact of the amortization of intangibles of Cuatro and Digital+ derived from the definitive allocation of the acquisition price of assets and liabilities of these companies.

Likewise, Mediaset España maintains in this first part of 2014 its usual debt-free balance with a final net financial position of €103.9M, which represents an increase of €37.11M over the same period in 2013 (€66.78M), without this being the result of any extraordinary operation.

Publiespaña Group increases its gross advertising income by 1.7% with €194.56M and net income by 2.2% with €183.81M
Mediaset España has obtained total net income of €200.38M in the first quarter of 2014, a figure that improves the turnover of the same period of 2013 by 1.9%.

The bulk of this amount comes from Grupo Publiespaña, which closed these months with an increase of 1.7%, a result that improves the evolution of the advertising market according to Infoadex, reaching gross advertising revenues of €194.56M. For its part, net income has grown by 2.2% compared to the same period in 2013 with €183.81M.

On the other hand, Mediaset España has obtained revenues of €16.57M to which the box office of “Ocho Apellidos Vascos” has contributed, a Telecinco Cinema production that has become the most viewed film in the history of Spanish cinema, as well as the interactive developments with the audience and merchandising carried out by the Commercial Department.

Cost adjustment

The adjustment in costs carried out by Mediaset España has not diminished its ability to keep viewers company, who for yet another quarter have placed their trust in a channel offering that between January and March has managed to reach its best historical quarterly record with a 29.4% share in total day, 1.1 points more than in the same period of 2013.

In prime time, Mediaset España has reached a 28.5% screen share, also registering an increase of 1.1 points over the first quarter of last year. The commercial target of all the company's channels has also grown by 1.2 and 1 point, respectively, reaching a 31.5% share in total day and 29.7% in prime time.

By channels, Telecinco has once again established itself as the television preferred by viewers absolutely in total day (14.2%) with 0.9 points more than in the first quarter of 2013. In commercial target, it has grown 1.1 points this quarter to reach a 13.5% screen share.

En el horario de máxima audiencia, Telecinco ha liderado igualmente de forma absoluta con el mayor crecimiento de todas las televisiones respecto al mismo trimestre de 2013 (+1,6 puntos) hasta alcanzar un destacado 15,1% de share, 1,6 puntos más que Antena 3 (13,5%).

En el perfil de espectadores preferido por los anunciantes, denominado target comercial, Telecinco ha registrado igualmente en prime time un incremento de 1,8 puntos sobre el primer trimestre del año pasado con un 14,1% de cuota de pantalla.

For its part, Cuatro has achieved an excellent positioning in this profile in demand by clients with a 7.5 share in the commercial target of the total day (growing 0.2 points compared to the same period in 2013), ahead of its immediate competitor, and 6.5% of prime time. The network has closed the first part of the year with 6.1% in total day and 5.3% in prime time.

Regarding thematic channels (9.1%), among them Factoría de Ficción stood out for another quarter (3%) as the most watched on television with an unparalleled commercial target among thematic channels (3.8%) and a solid position in young audiences aged 13 to 24 (7.9%).

Divinity se ha mantenido como uno de los canales de referencia entre las mujeres jóvenes y urbanas con un 3,1% entre el sector femenino de 16 a 44 años; Energy como temático masculino preferido por los hombres de 25 a 44 años con un 2,2% de cuota de pantalla en dicho target y Boing como la oferta líder de las televisiones comerciales entre niños y niñas de 4 a 12 años con un 12,2% de share.

Los recién extintos La Siete y Nueve han contribuido con un 1% y un 0,7% de share, respectivamente