Métropole Télévision S.A.

M6 did not give a full consolidated revenue or EPS figure in the transcript, but it said H1 advertising revenue outperformed a weak market, rising 1% versus an ex-M6 market down about 9%. In Video, EBITDA fell by about EUR 50 million, and management said the World Cup-related EBIT impact in July should be roughly 0 because higher revenue will be offset by higher competition costs. On digital, M6+ has more than 4 million opened accounts, 11 million active users, and more than 100 million hours viewed. Looking ahead, management said it will carefully control costs over the remaining 5 months of the year, continue the M6 2030 plan targeting EUR 80 million of savings over 5 years, and still aims for more than EUR 200 million of streaming revenue by 2028.

David Larramendy framed the quarter around the World Cup as both a ratings and brand success, calling it a ‘massive’ advertising success and highlighting the group’s modern presentation and strong social media impact. He said M6 was the first domestic channel across the competition, that the event helped the group’s audience share improve, and that key flagship programs are returning from September to support the rest of the year. His tone was upbeat but cautious on the broader market, arguing the ad market decline is not justified while acknowledging visibility remains low.

Jérôme Lefébure focused on the financial effects of the tournament, saying the World Cup’s favorable impact on cash will be felt later because invoices for the matches in the latter half will convert to cash in August, while July final-phase billing will also come through. He said the group ended with roughly EUR 33 million in cash and cash equivalents and investments, and net treasury of minus EUR 36 million. He also noted that financial results were lower than the past couple of years, that the company has been focusing on shareholders since May, and that all the activities around RTL Germany migration and Bedrock are moving toward profitability.

Analysts pressed management on how World Cup costs were allocated, whether the tournament’s revenue would mainly be incremental or partly pulled forward from later quarters, and whether the tournament would leave any meaningful net impact in Q3. Management said costs were allocated arithmetically by match, the Q3 net EBITDA impact should be approximately zero, and some ad spend likely came from Q4 or earlier periods but some of it was also linked to new product launches and not shiftable. Questions also covered the structural decline in the TV ad market and the dip in streaming growth; management said it is hard to separate macro from structural effects, believes TV remains a cheap and effective brand medium, and does not see the slower streaming growth as a negative signal.