In the first quarter of 2023 MediaForEurope (MFE) has registered a Net income of 10,1 million euros, a strong increase compared to the 2,7 million of the previous year.
At Piazza Affari the titles Mfe B yield 3,29%, while those Mfe A they lose 2,14%.
All MediaForEurope issues
Il Operating income grew above forecasts from 15,3 million in the first three months of 2022 to 19,3 million in the first quarter of 2023, also driven upwards by the increase in the stake held by Mfe in Mediaset Espana, which rose to 84,45% compared to 55,69% in the first quarter of 2022. I Net revenues consolidated figures show a slight decrease to 646,6 million euros (-1%, they were 654,3 million in the first quarter of 2022), in line with the consensus.
As of March 31, 2023, net financial debt consolidated amounted to 731,7 million euros, an improvement on the 873,3 million of the previous year, and the free cash flow is positive for 158,9 million euros, from 222,4 million in the first three months of 2022. operating costs total fell by about 2% to 627,3 million.
In Italy i gross advertising revenue they rose by 0,4% in the first quarter against the +3,1% of the overall advertising market according to Nielsen estimates: the period, reports Mfe, is traditionally in favor of Rai. In Spain, gross advertising revenue fell by 4,6% compared to the same period of 2022.
“In Italy, in the first part of the second quarter, advertising sales maintained the positive trend already recorded in the first three months, supported by the excellent performance of television ratings. In Spain, after the difficult start of the first two months of the year, April consolidated the recovery trend already recorded in March, also in this case supported by excellent publishing results”, explains Mfe in a note.
For the full year, the group expects to “achieve positive consolidated operating result, net result and cash generation (Free Cash Flow) on an annual basis”.
Mfe in Italy and Spain
As regards individual countries, In Italy the operating result was negative by 9,6 million (from -14,7 million) with operating costs down to 474,8 million (-1,3%), in Spain it was positive for 28,8 million (from 29,9 million) with costs down to 152,7 million (-3,4%).
Mfe: "We will bid for Serie A rights"
"We will make an offer but with a rational approach“, announced the CFO of MediaForEurope Marco Giordani, anticipating the group's willingness to participate in the auction for the Italian television rights of the Serie A for the period 2025-28.
Giordani then reiterated: “We know that football rights are quite loaded and therefore clearly we will bid in a rational way“. The manager recalled how, for example, Mediaset presented offers for the last auction on Champions League rights in which Sky and Amazon Prime Video prevailed. "We don't need football under any conditions - he concluded - We can carry on our business even without football and we maintain this approach both in Italy and in Spain".
Bids are expected for the mid June. The tender published by the Serie A League also provides for the possibility of obtaining the rights to broadcast some matches unencrypted.
