EQS-Adhoc

ProSiebenSat.1 records a higher than expected increase in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023 and specifies its outlook for 2024

EQS-Ad-hoc: ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE / Key word(s): Preliminary Results/Forecast ProSiebenSat.1 records a higher than expected increase in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023 and specifies its outlook for 2024 13-Feb-2024 / 19:11 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Unterföhring, February 13, 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2023, ProSiebenSat.1 Group recorded a significant increase in the adjusted EBITDA of 11% compared to the previous year quarter to around EUR 335 million (Q4 2022: EUR 303 million). Thereby, the Group exceeded its previous earnings expectations for this quarter. This is the result of the analysis of preliminary figures completed today. Most recently, the Group had expected slight growth in adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year quarter. The significant increase in adjusted EBITDA reflects a combination of the expected positive business development in the fourth quarter of 2023 as well as various smaller and non-recurring earnings effects that arose during the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. For the full year, ProSiebenSat.1 Group generated adjusted EBITDA of around EUR 578 million (2022: EUR 678 million). Group revenues developed as expected and amounted to around EUR 3.85 billion in the financial year 2023 (2022: EUR 4.16 billion). Of this amount, around EUR 1.28 billion was attributable to the important fourth quarter (Q4 2022: EUR 1.27 billion), corresponding to an increase of 1% compared to the previous year quarter. In addition, the Group's net financial debt decreased significantly to around EUR 1.546 billion in the fourth quarter (September 30, 2023: EUR 1.775 billion, December 31, 2022: EUR 1.613 billion). For the financial year 2024, ProSiebenSat.1 Group specifies its expectation such that it continues to assume adjusted EBITDA at the previous year's level, but now anticipating an increased adjusted EBITDA of around EUR 575 million (with a variance of plus/minus EUR 50 million) compared to the outlook published on December 19, 2023. On the one hand, this forecast reflects the previously announced increase in programming investments. On the other hand, this is based on the unchanged assumption of a slight increase in consolidated revenues and consistent cost management.