LUXEMBOURG (dpa-AFX) - The persistently sluggish TV advertising market and a lack of revenue from content production are depressing the mood at RTL Group. The ProSiebenSat.1 competitor announced in Luxembourg on Wednesday that consolidated revenues are only expected to rise from 6.3 billion euros in the current year. RTL had generated revenues of around 6.2 billion euros in 2023. RTL had previously forecast an increase to 6.6 billion euros. Analysts had also previously assumed revenues in this range.

Group CEO Thomas Rabe also believes that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITA) adjusted for special effects are only realistic at the lower end of the range of 700 to 800 million euros. This means that operating profit is likely to fall in the current year. In 2023, the figure had been 782 million euros.

Earnings already slumped noticeably in the third quarter. Group-wide revenue from continuing operations fell by around 5.5 percent to 1.3 billion euros. In addition to lower advertising revenues, there was a lack of income from the production subsidiary Fremantle - since the beginning of the year, the market has grown "significantly slower worldwide than previously expected". The company produces content in the areas of entertainment, drama and film as well as documentaries. The MDax group traditionally does not communicate key earnings figures for the third quarter.

Meanwhile, RTL Group continues to score with its streaming services. At the end of September, it had almost 6.5 million paying subscribers - 22.8 percent more than in the previous year./ngu/zb