RTVE closes its accounts without a deficit for the first time since 2009

The Corporation's profit in 2016 was estimated at 800,000 euros, reducing its debt by 50% compared to 2015.

“It is the first time that a year has been concluded without a deficit since 2009,” said the president of RTVE, José Antonio Sánchez, this Thursday within the framework of his appearance at the Corporation Control Commission in the Senate.

And Radio Television Española closed its 2016 accounts with a surplus of almost 800,000 euros. It is the first time that a year has ended without a deficit since 2009.

Since the approval of the financing law in 2009 and its entry into force at the beginning of 2010, the Corporation had never closed its accounts with a balanced budget until this year 2016.

Operating expenses remain within forecasts, accommodating the increase experienced by the expense of covering the Rio Olympic Games (56 million euros), in addition to allowing a change in criteria in the amortization of fiction and the clean-up of the Spanish film stock in program stocks.

Cost containment

Regarding general expenses, in 2016 RTVE continued with its policy of containment and efficiency that has had a great effect over recent years. Good proof of this is that in 2009, a year very similar to 2016 in terms of VAT deductibility and level of expenses in all other areas of the Corporation, RTVE's general expenses amounted to more than 280 million euros, while last year that figure barely reached 183 million. That is, a reduction of around almost 100 million euros, which shows that the efficiency program undertaken two years ago has yielded excellent results, while maintaining the levels of operation and excellence that have always characterized RTVE.

Income from contributions from telecommunications and television operators increased by just 3.4% compared to 2015, although they continue to be below what was forecast in the Corporation's Budget (-3%). These contributions to finance RTVE continue to present high uncertainty, which makes it difficult to make reasonable income forecasts. The rest of the income remains within the budgeted figures.

En todo caso, la reducción de ingresos respecto al presupuesto se ha visto compensada por una mayor contención del gasto, lo que ha permitido obtener un resultado positivo en 2016 de 0,8 millones de euros y una mejora significativa de la deuda financiera, que ha sufrido un descenso desde los 86,2 millones en 2015 a los 46,1 millones en 2016.