ProSiebenSat1 Stock: Shares Plunge on Mixed Results

ProSiebenSat1 experienced a significant stock decline following the release of its 2024 annual results, with shares falling by 11.7% to €5.32 in XETRA trading on Thursday, moving further away from the April 2024 high of €7.98. While the company reported a modest revenue increase of nearly 2% to €3.9 billion, adjusted operating profit (EBITDA) declined by 4% to €557 million, primarily due to increased investments in the Joyn streaming platform. The adjusted net profit showed marginal improvement, rising from €225 million to €229 million year-over-year. Shareholders will receive an unchanged dividend of five cents per share. Looking ahead, ProSiebenSat1 has issued cautious guidance for 2025, projecting revenues between €3.85 and €4.15 billion and adjusted EBITDA between €500 and €600 million-a forecast that partially fell short of analyst expectations.

Strategic Restructuring Under Shareholder Pressure

The media group is pursuing significant strategic changes amid pressure from major shareholder MediaForEurope (MFE), which holds a 29.99% stake and is pushing for greater focus on core business operations. ProSiebenSat1 is negotiating to acquire financial investor General Atlantic's minority interests in both the NuCom e-commerce division and ParshipMeet Group. In exchange, General Atlantic could become a new shareholder through either a mandatory convertible bond or share transfer. The completion of this transaction depends on divesting at least one peripheral business-either online perfumery Flaconi or comparison portal Verivox. Despite challenges, management emphasizes the profitability of its e-commerce segment, noting that Flaconi achieved growth despite cautious consumer sentiment.