RTL unveils Five’s Q1 performance

Channel Five’s owner RTL has announced its interim results statement for the first three months of the year, which claims that Five “underperformed” in the UK TV ad market.

The pan-European TV broadcaster said Five’s ad spend was down by more than 17% year on year in Q1 2009 and that TV advertising “declined by double-digit rates”.

However, the company would not detail its actual UK advertising revenue or financial performance for the period.

RTL Group also failed to give guidance for the rest of the year but did say it expected Five to continue to underperform the UK TV ad market in Q2, which it forecasts to be down by more than 17%.

The group said its results reflect a tough economic environment in the first quarter of 2009 – its group revenue across Europe was down by 11.1% to €1.2 billion, with EBITA down to €87 million due to “decreases across all [operations], restructuring costs and higher start up losses,” it said.

RTL said it is currently reviewing “all costs and structures in response to the substantial slowdown in advertising bookings”.

The group added: “It has to be expected that the profitability level [across the group] will be considerably down compared to 2008.”