TF1 Group’s Q1 net profit down 24.5%

Pascale Paoli-Lebailly ©RapidTVNews | 15-05-2012


French TV group TF1 has posted a net profit down 24.5% for Q1 of 2012 to €36,4M (€48.2M at the end of March 2011), owing to the rise of its programming costs.
TF1’s operating profit reached €56M, down 8.9 % over one year for a consolidated revenue of €628.6M. Of this, €339.5M is from TF1 channel advertising revenues, which saw a 3.9% decrease compared to the previous year.
TF1 Group explained that the results are due to the growth of TF1 channel’s grid costs to €237.7M (up from €205.4M in 2011), while ad revenues went down, in a general period of audience slump, to 22.9% audience share against 24.1% a year ago.
The first French private TV group, TF1 reiterated its expectation of a stable consolidated revenue over 2012 and says that priority will be given to cost control, with programming costs expected to reach an average of €930M over 2012 and 2013.
During Q1, diverisfication activities have increased, up 10.7% to €289.1M.