Prisa reports Portuguese TV gains

Spanish media group Prisa reported strong TV ad revenues in Portugal, but said that group ad revenues in Spain decreased in its third quarter earnings.

Prisa said that for the first nine months of the year, ad revenues at Media Capital, its Portuguese division that includes TV and radio assets, grew by 14.1%, with the ad recovery in Portugal starting in the second half of 2013.

Prisa said its free-to-air Portuguese TV network TVI also maintained its market leadership across 24-hours and in prime time, reaching a daily audience share of 24% and 26% respectively.

In the first nine months of 2014, revenues at TVI reached €104.98 million, up 1.8% compared to the same period in 2013. Prisa attributed this to better ad revenues, better sale of products in the period and lower services revenues.

However, in Spain, Prisa said that adjusted advertising revenues for the group have been irregular, decreasing by 2.4 %. Depite this, it added that after three irregular quarters, September showed growth.

In June, Prisa and Telefónica agreed the sale of Prisa’s 56% stake in pay TV platform Canal+’s holding company to the Spanish telecom giant for €750 million.

Overall for the nine months from January to September, Prisa reported operating revenues of €1.068 billion, down 7.1% year-on-year. EBITDA was down 11.7% to €179 million for the period.