FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European broadcaster RTL (DE:RRTL) said strong German TV advertising sales and its digital business including a host of YouTube channels lifted its second-quarter results, allowing it to pay a special interim dividend of 1 euro per share.
RTL, which is controlled by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann , raised its full-year revenue outlook, saying on Thursday it now expected a slight increase instead of flat sales, and stable core earnings.
An increase of 7 percent in revenues at its core German business outpaced a 5 percent rise at rival broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 (DE:PSMGn), and RTL said its TV ad sales grew faster than the market everywhere but France.
TV remains the biggest advertising medium in Germany, thanks to a host of free-to-view channels that still command mass audiences, giving broadcasters breathing space to acquire digital assets to which ad spend is migrating.
"With our financial strength, it is our ambition to significantly grow RTL Group over the next years – to transform the leading European entertainment network into a global force in video production, aggregation and monetisation," RTL said.
Second-quarter sales rose 8 percent to 1.48 billion euros ($1.68 billion), beating the average forecast of 1.43 billion in a Reuters poll, while EBITA rose 4 percent to 340 million euros, also beating the poll average of 325 million.