Published:
01-Feb-10
M6 channel resumes advertising growth in Q4 and the group posts full-year annual revenue growth thanks to diversifications.
M6 Group consolidated revenues rose +7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to EUR 402m. Multi-media advertising revenues (M6 channel, digital channels, other media:) were up +5.9 per cent to EUR 217m and non-advertising revenues (distance selling, merchandising, audiovisual rights) climbed by +9.2 per cent to EUR 184m.
M6 flagship channel's net advertising revenues (NAR) were up 1.5 per cent year-on-year to EUR 179m - but still five per cent lower than its pre-recession level in Q4 2007. It is the first year-on-year growth recorded since the second quarter of 2008, ending a period of five consecutive falls culminating in two-digit in H1, 2009 when M6 sales posted two-digit drops.
Other advertising revenues (digital TV and online mostly) were up +32 per cent (EUR 38.7m). Driven by the continuing success of free-to-air DTT, digital TV channels' revenues grew 33 per cent to EUR 34m, Screen Digest estimates.
For the whole year 2009, M6 channel's NAR was down eight per cent to EUR 605m (down ten per cent on 2007) and digital channel NAR was up 24 per cent. Group revenues grew 1.6 per cent thanks to non-advertising activities, up 8.3 per cent.
Our take...
The M6 channel recovery follows better economic climate and sustained demand coming from some sectors like FMCG. Losing eight per cent in an advertising market that fell an estimated 13 per cent, M6 has largely outperfomed the other incumbents in 2009 thanks to a flagship channel that was relatively resilient to digital fragmentation (audience share 10.8 per cent in 2009 vs. 11.0 per cent in 2008) and improved its ratings in prime time and access prime time.A more diversified portfolio of digital channels and strong results in other activities also contributed to M6's outperformance. M6 group's main digital channel W9 recorded a 2.5 per cent national audience share in 2009 (vs. 1.8 per cent in 2008) on all targets, hitting 2.9 per cent in December.
TF1's Q4 and annual results are expected on February 18. We expect Q4 to be slightly positive too, thus limiting the full-year revenue drop at -13 per cent.
Following the faster-than-expected recovery in Q4, we now estimate French TV advertising fell by 'only' 13.3 per cent overall in 2009 to EUR 2.9bn, putting the market back to its 2003 level.
At group level, M6 did well in 2009 because it kept reducing its exposure to a volatile, cyclical –if not declining - advertising market. Diversifications outside the core television television business and outside advertising-funded activities now account for almost half of M6 Group revenues (47% of non-advertising revenues). These grew 8.3 per cent in 2009, offseting the 3.8 per cent decline of advertising-based activities to deliver a group growth of 1.6 per cent. All the diversification segments did well in 2009 driven by hits in various categories: DVD publishing (Twilight series), audiovisual rights and cinema (Le Petit Nicolas movie), distant retail (acquisition of Mistergoodeal), internet with the success of M6 Replay and even sports with the M6-owned football club Bordeaux FCGB becoming champion in the French League.
France,
