- Subscription models continue to drive growth and digital transformation: Santillana reports three million subscriptions, up 5% compared to the same period in 2023, and EL PAÍS exceeds 388,600 subscribers, up 18%
- Businesses continue to perform well and in line with expectations
Grupo PRISA continues to show solid business performance and growth in cash generation at the end of the third quarter of 2024. Free Cash Flow (FCF) improved by more than 9 million euros compared to the same period of the previous year. In total, 59 million euros of cash was generated, an increase of 4% compared to the first nine months of 2023. In addition, PRISA maintains a strong liquidity position and continues to focus on reducing debt, which decreased by 89 million euros compared to September 2023. This represents a 10% reduction in debt over the past year. Financial results also improved by 22% in the year's first nine months.
Businesses showed sustained growth in the first nine months at both Santillana and PRISA Media, although results were affected by extraordinary and temporary items. Excluding these items, revenues increased by 2% and EBITDA by 12% at constant 2023 exchange rates.
PRISA's results as of September 2024 are thus in line with expectations, and the Group remains committed to meeting the targets set for this year.
PRISA Media
PRISA Media's revenues so far this year have totaled 308 million euros, a 2% increase compared to September 2023. This increase is mainly driven by the improvement in advertising (+2%), especially in Radio, and the strong performance of revenues from digital subscriptions to EL PAÍS (+23%). The newspaper has reached a total of 388,653 subscribers, of whom 374,014 are digital. Year-on-year growth in total subscribers was 18%, while the figure for digital subscribers was 20%. In terms of EBITDA, PRISA Media has grown by 12% compared to the same period in 2023.
Audio and video consumption indicators continue to show growth, and the figures so far this year confirm the positive trend. By the end of September 2024, the number of average monthly audio downloads had reached 51 million, up 2%, and average monthly listening hours reached 96 million, up 10% compared to September 2023. Meanwhile, the average monthly number of audiovisual content views reached 182 million, up 31% compared to September 2023.
Santillana
Santillana has performed in line with expectations and remains committed to achieving 2024 objectives, thanks to the growth of subscription models, the strong results from the Northern region campaign, and continued efforts to control costs.
Subscription models, Santillana's chief source of revenue, reported growth of 5% in the first nine months of the year, driving the business transformation process. There were a total of 3 million subscriptions as of September 2024. Learning systems performed well in the Northern region campaign in the third quarter, with an 8% increase in subscriptions.
Revenues from the private-education-sector business, including not only the sale of subscription models but also more traditional and institutional sales and other operating revenues, grew by 2%, excluding the negative exchange rate effect in the first nine months of the year. Excluding extraordinary items, the seasonality of the public business in Brazil (where there have been temporary delays in sales), and the exchange rate effect, Santillana's total EBITDA grew by 15%.
Sustainability
The Group remains firmly committed to raising awareness of major social and environmental challenges through a range of events that foster debate and reflection. Examples include the Latin America Forum and the United States and Spain in the Global Economy Forum, organized by EL PAÍS and the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce in New York. The latter event addressed the outlook for the economies of the three regions and the role of sustainability in business. Meanwhile, the forum The Future of Education, organized by PRISA Media in Bogota, brought together some 50 education experts from Colombia to analyze the state of the education system in the country.
Also in the field of education, in September, the Fundación Santillana, Santillana's non-profit organization that works to combat educational inequalities in Latin America, began operations in Chile. And Compartir, Santillana's learning system, received the prestigious ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Seal, an indicator of the digital quality of products and services.
In addition, the Retina ECO Awards, which recognize the best business projects in the fight against climate change, were held.
© 2024 GlobeNewswire (Europe)
