ProSiebenSat.1 Media (ETR:PSM) reported full-year 2025 results in a conference call hosted by CEO Marco Giordani and CFO Bob Rajan, who both joined the company in late October. Management said 2025 unfolded broadly as previously communicated, with macroeconomic pressure weighing on advertising markets, while the group took steps late in the year to tighten cash discipline, reorganize its sales structure, and lay the foundation for a more focused strategy in 2026.
2025 results shaped by advertising headwinds
Rajan said group revenue in 2025 was “slightly lower” than in 2024, driven primarily by weaker TV advertising. On an absolute basis, revenue declined 6% year over year, but the company characterized the organic decline (adjusting for portfolio and currency effects) as about 2%.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at EUR 403 million, in line with the guidance previously provided, and Rajan linked the decline versus the prior year mainly to lower advertising revenue. Adjusted operating free cash flow declined in line with EBITDA, while adjusted net income decreased 9%, with Rajan noting the result benefited from offsetting tax effects.
Segment discussion: Entertainment remains largest driver
Management said the group is increasingly viewing the business through two segments: Entertainment and what it called Commerce and Dating. Rajan said roughly two-thirds of group revenue is generated in Entertainment and about one-third in Commerce and Dating.
In Entertainment, trends reflected the broader advertising environment. Giordani later emphasized that the company intends to stabilize and transform the entertainment business by focusing on distinctive local and live programming and expanding distribution beyond linear TV.
In Commerce and Dating, Rajan said revenue was relatively stable year over year despite portfolio changes, including the divestiture of Verivox earlier in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA in the segment was slightly down but partly mitigated.
Within that portfolio, Rajan pointed to Flaconi as showing “good growth and penetration” in its market. By contrast, dating and video experienced challenges in 2025, with revenues down year over year. Rajan said a new management team had been in place for the last year and that the company had seen stronger performance in the first couple of months of 2026, though he cautioned that the business was “by no means” fully out of difficulty.
In the Q&A, Rajan attributed the early-2026 improvement in dating to stabilizing the paying user base across platforms, reviewing pricing and subscription strategies, sharpening the marketing mix (with less emphasis on brand spend), and improving technology execution.
Portfolio actions, deleveraging, and dividend proposal
Rajan said the company has remained active in reviewing its portfolio and executing transactions where it believes value can be maximized. He highlighted three transactions since he and Giordani joined: the Verivox.com deal, which closed in February 2026; Kairion and esome, which were signed recently with closing expected in April; and a transaction involving FLOYT and CamperDays announced the morning of the call, also expected to close in April.
Rajan said these transactions generated roughly EUR 300 million in proceeds. He also said net debt declined to about EUR 1.3 billion at the end of 2025 from about EUR 1.5 billion at the end of 2024, reflecting asset sales and other cash measures. He added that net financial debt has fallen by about EUR 902 million since 2019, while the company paid more than EUR 300 million in dividends over that period.
On refinancing, Rajan referenced a process completed in 2025 that included a new debt package consisting of:
- a 5-year term loan,
- a bridge facility with a 12-month plus 12-month duration, and
- an undrawn revolving credit facility.
He also noted semiannual amortization payments of EUR 70 million and said the company is focused on meeting covenant requirements and reducing leverage.
For the dividend, Rajan said management would propose a EUR 0.05 dividend per share at the annual general meeting scheduled for the end of May, matching the prior year’s level.
Strategic shift: from diversified group to “focused media powerhouse”
Giordani said ProSiebenSat.1 is shifting from a diversified group to a “focused media powerhouse,” with the goal of becoming the leading entertainment player in the DACH region. He described the company’s strategy as guided by “clarity, focus, and long-term value creation,” supported by strict cost management and capital allocation tied to strategic priorities.
Giordani outlined five priorities:
- Content: invest in distinctive local and live entertainment to build reach and viewer connection.
- Total video reach: pursue a multi-platform approach spanning linear TV, the Joyn streaming platform, third-party distribution platforms, and social media.
- Monetization: evolve advertising products and use technology, data, identity, and AI to better serve advertisers in a converging market.
- Technology and AI: use new tools to drive efficiency and effectiveness and improve scalability and margins.
- Financial discipline: maintain strict daily cost and cash focus to fund content investment and support deleveraging.
As an example of multi-platform brand expansion, Giordani cited “Galileo,” describing it as evolving from a high-reach linear format into a broader ecosystem that also includes activity on Joyn, YouTube (with more than 3.3 million subscribers, as stated on the call), and social media, along with licensing opportunities.
Giordani also emphasized the role of parent company MFE-MediaForEurope as a “multiplier” that can add scale, including through standardized tools, alignment of AdTech stacks, and cooperation in areas such as data and analytics, OTT infrastructure, and procurement, while keeping content and programming local to the DACH market.
2026 outlook: stable Entertainment revenue, EBITDA growth targeted
Management said 2026 visibility remains limited due to continued macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, but it intends to focus on controllable factors such as market share gains and cost control. Giordani said the company expects EBITDA to grow in 2026 and called this a central objective.
For 2026, Giordani guided to a slight revenue decline driven mainly by portfolio decisions, while on a like-for-like basis the company is targeting slight growth. Entertainment revenue is expected to be stable year over year. He said March was “materially better” than January and February, and that April looked better than March based on what was already booked, adding that the company did not see a need to revise its outlook at the time of the call.
On profitability, Giordani said reported EBITDA is the KPI management intends to emphasize going forward, rather than adjusted EBITDA. In Q&A, Rajan said restructuring costs in 2025 were around EUR 70 million and are expected to be lower in 2026.
Giordani said the company is targeting more than EUR 130 million in cost savings in Entertainment on a reported EBITDA basis in 2026, describing it as a 2026 profit-and-loss effect rather than a run-rate figure. In response to an analyst question, he said that if revenue were flat, the cost savings would translate into a comparable EBITDA uplift, while stronger top-line performance would add to that.
For leverage and balance sheet metrics, Giordani said net financial debt is forecast to be stable versus the prior year and that the company is targeting leverage between 3.0x and 3.5x EBITDA. In Q&A, management said covenant reporting to financing partners remains based on adjusted EBITDA, but it does not plan to manage the business internally on that metric.
Rajan added that the asset disposals announced so far are small and not expected to significantly move net debt, and he noted ongoing cash outlays including spending related to the company’s new campus project.
About ProSiebenSat.1 Media (ETR:PSM)
ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE operates as a media company in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the United States, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Entertainment, Dating & Video, and Commerce & Ventures. The Entertainment segment operates free TV stations and digital platforms, such as SAT.1, ProSieben, Kabel Eins, sixx, SAT.1 Gold, ProSieben MAXX, and Kabel Eins Doku, as well as PULS4, PULS24, ATV I, ATV II, and PLUS 8. This segment is involved in operating commercial websites; production and distribution programming portfolio, including entertainment, reality, and factual formats, as well as TV series, TV films, and digital content; and operates Studio71 which creates and sells digital offerings for influencers.
