RTL cuts guidance a second time as ad sales remain weak

Europe-wide broadcaster RTL has cut its annual revenue guidance for the second time this year as the weak advertisement market keeps hampering the company.

The commercial broadcaster that gets close to half of its income from ad sales now expects revenue of around 6.9 billion euros ($7.37 billion) in 2023, down from the 7 billion euros it forecast in August.

It now guides for full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of around 900 million euros, down from the 950 million euros it expected in August.

"European advertising markets are turning out to be softer than we expected," said Thomas Rabe, RTL's chief executive, who also heads its parent Bertelsmann.

The media firm now sees TV advertising revenue declining by a mid-single-digit percentage in the second half of 2023, after previously guiding for slight-to-stable growth.

The uncertainty of the European, and especially German, ad market recovery in the current economic conditions is hounding large media firms.

RTL's revenue dropped 6.9 per cent year-on-year in the nine months from January to September and stood at 4.66 billion euros.