Fremantle profits were up by nearly a quarter last year but the much-vaunted €3B ($3.3B) turnover target appears to have been pushed back indefinitely.
For full year 2024, The Poor Things super-indie’s adjusted EBITA shot up by 23% to €171M, its highest to date. Fremantle-owner RTL put this down to “significantly lower overhead costs and the first-time profit contribution from Asacha Media Group,” which the outfit acquired at the start of last year at a cost of €200M when the acquisition of 80% of Singapore’s Beach House Pictures was included. Adjusted EBITA margin was up by 1.5 percentage points to 7.6%, with a target of 9% set for 2025.
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RTL pointed to 2024 success stories including Oscar-winner Poor Things, hit Amazon YA series Maxton Hall, Kim Kardashian-produced doc Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar and U.S. entertainment smashes like Family Feud and The Farmer Wants A Wife.
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But turnover at the Element Pictures-owner slid slightly to €2.25M, representing an 8% “organic” decrease that reflected an ” international market for content production [that] was still impacted by 2023 US strikes and by budget cuts from streaming services and advertising-financed broadcasters,” RTL said.
As with rivals like ITV Studios, Banijay and ProSiebenSat.1, the results paint a mixed picture and RTL appears to have now indefinitely pushed back the €3B Fremantle turnover target that was set several years back to be hit in 2025, which we revealed upon last year’s results had been delayed a year.
“Fremantle continues to target full-year revenue of €3B in the mid-term, including the acquisition of small and medium-sized production companies and partnerships with creative talent,” said today’s results. Speaking to Deadline in 2023, Fremantle Group COO Andrea Scrosati said the shareholder-set goal was “very ambitious” and could be achieved with a mix of M&A and organic growth.
Fremantle was incredibly acquisitive around three years back but its only big M&A deal in the past year has been Red Planet maker Asacha and Beach House, although these were splashy. At the same time it made drastic changes including laying off all staff at Nightsleeper indie Euston Films, while there was chaos with the arrival then swift exit of ex-Cinecittà Studios Nicola Maccanico and the departure of Southern Europe CEO Jaime Ondarza after he fell victim to a $1M fake M&A scam.
In 2024, RTL said it spent around €4B on content, combining the programing spend of its broadcasters and productions within Fremantle.
The Luxembourg-headquartered Bertelsmann-owned juggernaut’s combined turnover for last year was up by 0.3% to €6.3B but Fremantle’s profit boost couldn’t help overall adjusted EBITA, which fell 7.8% to €721M. Adjusted EBITA margin was down to 11.5%. Shareholders will receive a dividend of €2.50 per share.
CEO Thomas Rabe pointed to streaming growth of 21% as proof that profit increases are to come.
“Despite challenging market conditions in the second half of the year, our results were in line with the guidance we provided at the beginning of 2024,” he added.
“More importantly, we reached turning points in our streaming services and content production business. As a result, we expect to significantly increase our operating profits in the coming years. Our streaming services continued to grow dynamically and significantly reduced their start-up losses in 2024. We are firmly on track to reach profitability by 2026.”