RTLGroup

Earnings Release • May 8, 2024

Quarterly statement

Q1/2024: Strong start into the year with doubledigit growth in TV advertising and streaming

• –Q1/2024: Group revenue¹ up 2.6 per cent to €1.3 billion, driven by significantly higher TV advertising and streaming revenue, partly offset by lower content revenue due to timing; Group revenue up 4.1 per cent organically
• –TV advertising revenue up 10.0 per cent in Q1/2024
• –Continued dynamic growth of RTL Group's streaming services: paying subscribers up 24.2 per cent year on year to 6.0 million, streaming revenue up 41.0 per cent in Q1/2024
• –RTL Group's family of TV channels in Germany with TV advertising market and audience share gains, extending the lead over ProSiebenSat1 to 8 percentage points
• –Full-year outlook for 2024 confirmed

Luxembourg, 8 May 2024 – RTL Group today published the following quarterly statement for the first three months of 2024 (January to March 2024).

CEO's quote

Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, says:

"RTL Group has started strongly and in line with our expectations into 2024. We have strengthened our leading audience and advertising positions in Germany and continued the dynamic growth of our streaming business. Our first-quarter results confirm our strategy of investing through the cycle.

RTL Group is looking forward to an eventful second quarter, with RTL Deutschland and Groupe M6 broadcasting Uefa Euro 2024 matches. In addition, M6+ will launch in France next week and Fremantle will deliver season two of The Responder, the new thriller series Nightsleeper and season 19 of America's Got Talent."

Revenue

Group revenue was up 2.6 per cent to €1,318 million (Q1/2023: €1,285 million), mainly driven by higher TV advertising revenue and streaming revenue at RTL Deutschland, partly offset by lower Fremantle revenue. Group revenue was up 4.1 per cent organically² .

RTL Group's total advertising revenue increased by 10.1 per cent to €686 million (Q1/2023: €623 million), of which €528 million represented TV advertising revenue (Q1/2023: €480 million), €80 million digital advertising revenue (Q1/2023: €70 million) and €77 million radio, print and other advertising revenue (Q1/2023: €72 million).

RTL Group's content revenue, generated by the Group's global content business, Fremantle, was down 9.2 per cent to €395 million (Q1/2023: €435 million), due to timing effects in the UK, Italy and Germany. In Q2/2024, Fremantle will deliver major

¹ In December 2023, RTL Group announced the envisaged sale of RTL Nederland to DPG Media, and therefore presents its quarterly results for Q1/2024 and Q1/2023 without RTL Nederland (IFRS 5, discontinued operations). Due to the reached agreement to sell RTL Nederland, as communicated on 15 December 2023, the operating segment RTL Nederland is classified as held for sale and presented as discontinued operations in RTL Group's consolidated financial statements for the year 2023 and in the consolidated figures for the first quarter of 2024 (Application of IFRS 5 'Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations' to the operating segment RTL Nederland). If not indicated otherwise, all figures presented/reported in this document refer to continuing operations. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and the consultation process with the respective works councils, and is expected to close in the course of the year. 2 Adjusted for portfolio changes and at constant exchange rates. Further details can be found in Key performance indicators on page 57 of RTL Group's Annual Report 2023

	productions such as the second season of The Responder and the new real-time thriller series Nightsleeper for the BBC in the UK as well as season 19 of America's Got Talent for NBC and Race To Survive: New Zealand for the USA Network in the US.
	Streaming revenue3 was up 41.0 per cent to €86 million (Q1/2023: €61 million), driven by a significantly higher number of paying subscribers and increased subscription prices in Germany.
	€81 million).	RTL Group's distribution revenue4	was up 8.6 per cent to €88 million (Q1/2023:
Net debt		As of 31 March 2024, RTL Group held net debt of €-545 million5 (31 December 2023: net debt of €-291 million). On 29 April 2024, RTL Group paid out the dividend for 2023 (€2.75 per share) amounting to €426 million.
TV markets Net TV advertising market growth rates and RTL Group audience shares in main target groups
	RTL Group estimates that net TV advertising markets were up in Germany and France in the first quarter of 2024. A summary is shown below, including estimates of net TV advertising market growth rates and the audience shares in the main target audience group.
		Net TV advertising market growth rate Q1/2024 (in per cent)	RTL Group audience share in main target group Q1/2024 (in per cent)	RTL Group audience share in main target group Q1/2023 (in per cent)
	Germany	+5.5 to +6.56	28.17	27.77
	France	+48	20.69	21.09
Operational highlights	RTL Group's strategic framework remains unchanged: strengthening the Group's core businesses, expanding its growth businesses, and fostering alliances and partnerships in the European media industry.
	Core
	In the first three months of 2024, RTL Deutschland's combined audience share in the main commercial target group of viewers aged 14 to 59 increased to 28.1 per cent (Q1/2023: 27.7 per cent), extending the lead over ProSiebenSat1 to 8.0 percentage points (Q1/2023: lead of 6.5 percentage points). The main channel RTL achieved an average audience share of 10.9 per cent (Q1/2023: 10.5 per cent), the best start to a year since 2020.
	3 (including RTL+/RTL+ Active/RTL+ Light) 4	Streaming revenue includes SVOD, TVOD, in-stream and distribution revenue from RTL+ in Germany, 6play in France and RTL+ in Hungary

Revenue generated across all distribution platforms (cable, satellite, internet TV) including re-transmission fees 5 Net debt excludes current and non-current lease liabilities. Including these, net debt as of 31 March 2024 was €-874 million (31 December

^2023: net debt of €-592 million). See Key performance indicators on page 61 of RTL Group's Annual Report 2023

⁶ Industry and RTL Group estimate

⁷ Source: GfK, Target group: 14 to 59, including pay-TV channels

⁸ Source: Groupe M6 estimate

⁹ Source: Médiamétrie. Target group: 25 to 49 (free-to-air channels: M6, W9, 6ter and Gulli)

The combined audience share of Groupe M6's free-to-air channels in the commercial target group of viewers aged 25 to 49 was 20.6 per cent (Q1/2023: 21.0 per cent).

In March 2024, Groupe M6 announced its acquisition of the exclusive free-to-air TV rights for the majority of the matches of the Fifa World Cup in 2026 and 2030 – representing 54 matches for each tournament. This significant investment strengthens Groupe M6's event-based, free-to-air sports offering and its streaming service M6+.

Growth

By the end of March 2024, RTL Group's streaming services RTL+ in Germany and Hungary and 6play¹⁰ in France had 6.0 million paying subscribers – an increase by 24.2 per cent year on year (end of March 2023: 4.8 million).

• –Paying subscribers for RTL+ in Germany increased by 20.6 per cent year on year to 5.3 million (end of March 2023: 4.4 million). The partnership with Deutsche Telekom to bundle RTL+ Premium in Magenta TV continued to contribute significantly to the growth.
• –RTL+ in Germany increased its video starts by 29.1 per cent year on year to a monthly average of 102 million in the first quarter of 2024. Usage of RTL+ increased by 45.1 per cent to a monthly average of 47.8 million hours. The average monthly podcast launches on RTL+ increased by 32.4 per cent compared to Q1/2023. For the audiobook and music offerings March was the strongest month since launch in terms of number of plays.
• –In March 2024, Groupe M6 presented its investment plan for its streaming service M6+ (replacing 6play). The additional investments of €100 million in content, technology and marketing will build up over time. The service will be primarily financed by advertising (AVOD), complemented by a premium subscription tier (SVOD). The service will run on the technology platform provided by Bedrock and is set to launch on 15 May 2024.

In February 2024, Fremantle acquired an 80 per cent stake in the Asian production company Beach House Pictures. The Singapore-based company operates in Japan, Korea and China as well as the US, UK and Europe, and is focused on non-scripted entertainment. This was followed by the full acquisition of Asacha Media Group in March 2024. The France-based European production group owns stakes in eight production companies in France, Italy and the UK. Asacha Media Group is diversified in geography, genre and its customer base, complementing Fremantle's footprint in Europe and strengthening the company's position as home to top and new talent.

Within its entertainment business, Fremantle launched the reality show Couple to Throuple for Peacock in the US, the talent show Rhythm and Flow for Netflix in Italy and the reality show Hot Mess Summer on Amazon Prime Video alongside American Idol returning on ABC with its 22nd season. Within drama & film, Fremantle's Dancing Ledge Productions launched the comedy-drama Big Mood on Channel 4 in the UK and, following successful launches of series Alice & Jack on Channel 4 and Masterpiece in the US, Fremantle announced a first-look deal with BAFTA-winning independent producer Me+You Productions. Within its documentaries business, Fremantle launched the natural history series Queens on National Geographic and acquired the international sales rights to distribute the documentary Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar from Passion Pictures.

Alliances and partnerships

In April 2024, RTL Deutschland announced a strategic partnership with the production companies Wiedemann & Berg Film and Leonine Studios, which have produced or coproduced the most successful German films in cinemas for four consecutive years from

¹⁰ Paying subscribers for 6play in France were included starting from 2023

2020 to 2023. With a multi-year framework agreement, RTL Deutschland has secured the exclusive free-to-air TV and streaming rights to German film productions from the two companies.

In February 2024, RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat1 announced an advertising technology partnership which will bundle the services of their respective advertising technology businesses, Smartclip and Virtual Minds. This will enable advertisers to book advertising campaigns across all inventories – linear and non-linear, including the streaming services RTL+ and Joyn.

Outlook

RTL Group confirms its outlook presented on 14 March 2024:

The geopolitical and macroeconomic environment remains volatile, and the impact on RTL Group's businesses continues to be hard to predict. On the basis of a slight recovery of the German TV advertising market and broadly stable advertising markets in the Group's other territories,

• RTL Group expects its full-year revenue for 2024 to increase to around €6.6 billion, based on higher revenue from RTL Deutschland (mainly driven by strong growth in streaming revenue) and Fremantle (mainly driven by a recovery in the US market and acquisitions).
• RTL Group expects its Adjusted EBITA for 2024 to be around €750 million, with a variance of plus/minus €50 million, depending on the development of the German and French TV advertising markets in 2024. This Adjusted EBITA outlook includes higher content costs, primarily for the broadcast of Euro 2024 matches in France and Germany, and higher streaming start-up losses (2023: €176 million) primarily due to the investments in M6+ in France.
• –RTL Group's dividend policy remains unchanged: RTL Group plans to pay out at least 80 per cent of the adjusted full-year net result.

	2023	2024e
Revenue	€6,234m	~€6.6bn
Adjusted EBITA	€782m	~€750m (+/-€50m)
Streaming start-up losses	€176m	~€200m

Strategic targets for RTL Group's streaming services¹¹

	2023	2026e
Paying subscribers	5.6m	~9m
Streaming revenue	€283m	€~750m
Content spend per annum	€270m	~€500m

Profitability is expected by 2026¹² .

Figures presented in this quarterly statement are not audited.

¹¹ RTL+ in Germany, M6+/6play in France and RTL+ in Hungary

¹² Total of Adjusted EBITA from RTL+in Germany and Hungary, M6+ in France and Bedrock as consolidated on RTL Group level. The Adjusted EBITA of RTL+ in Germany and Hungary and M6+ includes synergies with TV channels at business unit level. For the definition of Adjusted EBITA please see Key performance indicators on pages 57 to 59 of RTL Group's Annual Report 2023

Contact

RTL Group Media & Investor Relations Oliver Fahlbusch +352 2486 5200 oliver.fahlbusch@rtl.com

About RTL Group

RTL Group is a leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, with interests in 60 television channels, seven streaming services and 36 radio stations. The Group's families of TV channels are either number one or number two in six European countries, while RTL Group owns or has interests in radio stations in France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Deutschland is the Group's largest business unit and Germany's first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio, digital and publishing. RTL Group's streaming services include RTL+ in Germany and Hungary, Videoland in the Netherlands and 6play/M6+ in France. Fremantle is one of the world's largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, responsible for more than 11,000 hours of programming per year, alongside an international network of teams operating in 27 countries. The streaming tech company Bedrock and the ad-tech company Smartclip are also owned by RTL Group. As a market leader, RTL Group strives to foster alliances and partnerships within the European media industry, for example by building a one-stop advertising sales house in Germany with Ad Alliance and driving international advertising sales with RTL AdAlliance. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, which is listed on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt stock exchanges and in the MDAX stock index.