Agora S A : FINANCIAL RESULTS OF THE AGORA GROUP IN THE 1Q 2024

May 24, 2024 / 07:24

FINANCIAL RESULTS OF THE AGORA GROUP IN THE 1Q 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, the Agora Group achieved record revenues. Almost PLN 386 million in revenue represents a year-on-year increase of more than 30%, of which more than PLN 100 million came from digital and online channels. Significantly higher revenues were reported by the Movies and Books, and Radio segments. The company's EBITDA profit increased by almost 53 per cent to PLN 54.6 million, while the EBIT operating result amounted to PLN 10.5 million.

- It was a good quarter for the Agora Group's businesses. Helios cinemas generated high attendance and record revenues, NEXT FILM released the most popular films in Poland, AMS achieved 72% growth dynamics of revenues realised on digital panels, and Eurozet Group, as the only one in the Polish radio market, systematically recorded increases in listenership. The advertising market continues to be buoyant, which is reflected in the first quarter results, and at the same time allows us to look with optimism to the future," comments Bartosz Hojka, President of the Management Board of Agora. - If the pace of growth in advertising is maintained, it is realistic to raise our forecasts for the market for the next quarters of this year," he adds.

In the first quarter of 2024, Agora Group's total revenues amounted to PLN 385.9 million, up 30.5% year-on-year. All the Group's revenue categories increased in the period under review, with the consolidation of the Agora Radio Group with the Eurozet Group and increases in the Movies and Books, and Outdoor Advertising segments having a significant impact on their level.

In January-March 2024, Agora Group's advertising revenues increased by 27% compared to the same period of 2023 and amounted to nearly PLN 158 million. Once again, this was mainly driven by higher radio advertising revenues in the Radio segment, which amounted to PLN 71.4 million. This was the result of consolidation with the Eurozet group and the introduction of a joint sales offer based on nine radio stations. In the Outdoor segment, advertising revenues were 7% higher at almost PLN 37 million, and cinema advertising revenues increased by 20.5% to PLN 8.8 million. In the Digital and Printed Press segment, advertising revenues remained at a similar level to the first quarter of 2023, at PLN 11.2 million. The Internet segment saw a decline in advertising revenues due to changes regarding the development of SaaS partnerships and the reduction of advertising sales by Yieldbird.

According to Agora's estimates, the advertising market in Poland grew by 11.5% year-on-year in Q1 2024. Advertisers spent PLN 2.85 billion on the promotion of their products and services in that period.¹ Taking into account the growth rate of the entire domestic advertising market and its individual segments, Agora's Management Board expects the dynamics of advertising spending in Poland in 2024 to be at the level of 5-7%.

In the first quarter of 2024, revenues from ticket sales in Helios cinemas increased by 26% to PLN 78.1 million and revenues from concession sales in cinemas by 35.4% to nearly PLN 46 million. During the period under review, 3.7 million tickets were sold in the cinemas of the Helios network, an increase of 27.6% compared to the same period last year. This is a higher growth than that recorded by the entire cinema market - according to Helios' estimates, the number of tickets sold in Polish cinemas in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to 15.7 million and was 24.6% higher year-on-year.²

In the first quarter of 2024, the value of revenues from the sale of publications amounted to PLN 33.7 million, an increase of 0.6%. This is a result of higher revenues both in the Digital and Printed Press segments and in the Agora Publishing House. It is worth noting that - similarly to the previous quarters - a change in the structure of this revenue is visible in the Digital and Printed Press segment, i.e. an increase in the revenue from digital subscriptions of "Wyborcza" accompanied by a decrease in the revenue from its paper edition.

In the first quarter of 2024, net operating expenses of the Agora Group increased by 24.8% to PLN 375.4 million. They were significantly impacted by consolidation with the Eurozet Group and costs of the restructuring process in the Digital and Printed Press, and Internet segments totalling PLN 7.9 million.

The staff costs amounted to PLN 114.9 million and were 18.6% higher than those recorded in Q1 2023. Expenditure on salaries and employee benefits increased in almost all the Group's operating segments and its supporting divisions.

In the first quarter of 2024, the Agora Group achieved an EBITDA profit of PLN 54.6 million and an EBIT profit of PLN 10.5 million, a significant improvement in both ratios compared to the same period last year.³Net profit amounted to PLN 3.8 million, while net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company amounted to PLN 0.6 million.

In the first quarter of 2024, Eurozet Group, which owns Agora's combined radio portfolio (including Radio ZET, Radio TOK FM, Radio Złote Przeboje (Golden Hits), Antyradio), was the leader in audience share in urban areas of 100,000+. It has the largest lead over its competitors in the largest cities (500,000+). Record-breaking shares in listening time are recorded by Radio ZET, which is increasing its share in successive waves of the Radio Track survey and can boast the best results in 10 years. At the same time, Eurozet Group is the only radio group in Poland to record year-on-year an increase in listenership and reach in the last wave of the survey.⁴

Radio ZET and "Gazeta Wyborcza" were ranked second in their categories (radio stations and newspaper titles respectively) in the Most Opinion-forming Media of the Decade (2014-2023) ranking, published by the Media Monitoring Institute.

Data source: Group IFRS consolidated financial statements for Q1 2024

Footnotes:

¹ Advertising market - Agora estimates (press based on Kantar Media and Agora monitoring, radio based on Kantar Media), IGRZ (outdoor advertising), Publicis Media (TV, cinema, Internet).

² Attendance in Polish cinemas - Helios estimates.

³ Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, the Agora Group recorded an EBITDA profit of PLN 27.1 million in Q1 2024. On the same basis, EBIT profit amounted to PLN 3.8 million.

⁴ Kantar Polska, Radio Track, II-IV 2024, all days of the week, 15+

More information:

Krzysztof Mazur, IR Manager of the Agora Group

Anna Marucha, Corporate Communications Director of the Agora Group

e-mail: [e-mail], [e-mail]/en

Agora S.A. was founded in 1989; it has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1999. Its most important ventures are: Helios S.A. - operator of the largest cinema network in the country in terms of number of venues and owner of the film production and distribution company NEXT FILM; radio activity operating as Grupa Eurozet covering 9 stations from the TOP20 most listened to stations in Poland, created thanks to the joint forces of Agora Radio Group and Eurozet, of which Agora is the majority shareholder; AMS - leader of the Polish OOH market, as well as respected news media - Gazeta Wyborcza, the most popular opinion-forming newspaper in Poland and leader of the digital transformation of the Polish press, Gazeta.pl, which is among the top Polish portals, and the supra-regional Radio TOK FM, the most popular station in the news&talk format in Poland. Agora's websites are among the leading ones in their categories in terms of popularity, such as Sport.pl, Moto.pl and Plotek.pl, available online and through mobile applications. The company publishes and distributes books, music and film releases, and is also active in the foodservice market.

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