After the red of 2016, Mediaset archives the 2017 financial statements reviewing earnings. Without the ballast of the costs for the lawsuit against Vivendi, the Biscione has scored profits of 90,5 million euros, which compare with the maxi loss of 294,5 million recorded in the previous year. However, the company underlines that, without considering extraordinary restructuring items, the net result would have been positive for 115 million. Even if the Italian activities continue to be at a loss: -9,9 million. The turnover, on the other hand, dropped by almost 1%, to 3,63 billion.
On the front of the advertising revenue in the Italian market, Mediaset's result grew by 0,4%, with total gross revenues of 20,95 billion euro. A trend that, however, reversed in the first two months of 2018, in which the Alfa Romeo showed a decline, without losing market shares.
As far as pay tv only Mediaset Premium, revenues stood at 587,4 million, approximately 5% less on an annual basis.
In presenting the accounts, the CFO of Mediaset, Marco Giordani, underlined that the commercial agreement with Sky it should have a positive impact on the ebit of the Biscione of 60-70 million euros a year. For 2018 alone, however, the benefit should be 30-35 million.
Giordani also said that the agreement provides for the possibility of a sale of Premium's digital terrestrial platform to Sky only at a later date, by the end of the year, because "it is difficult to predict what the market structure is" for football rights until the assignment of licenses for Serie A 2018-21 will be defined.
As for the relationship between Mediaset and Telecom Italy, Giordani admitted that recently the two companies have resumed talking about agreements on content, which however concern "only the retransmission of free-to-air channels" of Mediaset and not the content on which the two groups were discussing six months ago. In short, there is no longer talk of the Premium broadcasts, which instead had been discussed in the first phase of the talks with Tim.
