Fast Forward - Europe

iPhone changing consumer behaviour

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:05:00 --0100

In the EU5 markets (UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) the iPhone only has 4% of the mobile market, but 18% of the overall EU5 smartphone market. However, iPhone users are the most consistent consumers of mobile media with 87% using applications and 85% using their phone to browse the internet.

Mobile music increases across Europe

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:46:00 --0100

Music consumption over mobile has increased to 23.8% of mobile users across five leading European mobile markets according to data from Comscore's MobiLens. The 54 million total mobile music users in the EU5 countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), represent a 10% increase in the past year.

EU consumers more receptive to online ads

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:34:00 --0100

European consumers are more likely to respond to online ads than their US counterparts, according to latest figures from Comscore. Data from around 20 Comscore studies across Europe showed that the volume of website visits after exposure to online ads was 49% higher than figures from US studies. European consumers were also 40% more likely to conduct trademark search queries.

Dogan fined heavily

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:50:00 --0100

Turkish media company Dogan has been landed with an enormous tax fine - around US$2.5 billion - which amounts to the combined market value of all of Dogan Holding and Dogan Yayin, the company's media arm. This comes in the wake of another US$600m fine levied on the company earlier this year by the finance ministry, but the magnitude of the latest one has left commentators aghast. There are many who see political motivation behind the fine, although prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been quick to deny this in the strongest possible terms. Nevertheless, Mr. Erdogan is unlikely to be too worried if Dogan were to be forced out of business, given its track record of reporting on corruption scandals and generally critical attitude towards the government. More detail in the article here.

Brussels announces inquiry into French TV plans

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:59:00 --0100

The EC is to launch a probe into moves in France to give public broadcaster France Télévisions a �450m subsidy funded by private broadcasters; there are suspicions it could contravene European competition law. The levy came into effect in March and will take between 1.5% and 3% of the private broadcasters' ad revenue. The move has been introduced as part of President Sarkozy's plans to abolish advertising from the state channels in France, but commercial broadcasters have raised concerns about its meaning higher taxes for them as well as allowing France TV to launch new services in direct competition, which they claim affords it an unfair advantage. A spokesperson for the commission said it was "concerned about the use made of the taxes introduced by the reform and possible overcompensation for public service costs up to 2011 and 2012."

Mecom to make further cuts as advertising falls

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:53:00 --0100

Following a 22% fall in advertising revenue at European newspaper group Mecom, cost-cutting measures are to be accelerated. Chief executive, David Montgomery, hopes to exceed savings of �100 million in an effort to shift the group's traditional advertising-focused model towards becoming an online information provider. He said:

Our short-term strategy is cost reduction as a very important defence mechanism against the fall in advertising. This will leave us well placed to take advantage of our new fundamental model after the recession.

The group managed to cut its nebt debt from �703 million to �379 million in the six months to the end of June, after disposing of Norwegian and German newspapers.

Premiere to become Sky Deutschland

Fri, 15 May 2009 11:58:00 --0100

German pay-TV operator Premiere, in which News Corp has a 30.5% stake, is to be rebranded Sky Deutschland from July. The move cost the company �256.1m in terms of the writedown of the value of the old name.

Ad slump hits RTL

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:27:00 --0100

European broadcaster RTL has announced an 11% drop in first quarter sales to �1.19bn; earnings were down as much as 57% to �87m in the three months to the end of March. The company says profit decline is across the board, with all areas of business affected. RTL has already written down the value of UK channel Five by around two thirds.

Mecom may breach covenant

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:10:00 --0100

European newspaper publisher Mecom suffered a 16% drop in its share price on Friday after it released a warning that an inability to sell off a number of German and Norwegian titles might lead it to breach a banking covenant by the end of this month. The group had already deferred a covenant test from December to the end of February, and then again to the end of March, and there are still hopes that it can conclude current talks with its lenders successfully. However, if it cannot do so, it will have a cash shortfall of around £600 million for the coming year.

Mecom chairman survives coup attempt

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:38:00 --0100

David Montgomery, executive chairman of European publisher Mecom, has seen off an attempt to oust him by a number of fellow directors, who have now resigned. The directors said that they had been concerned about the direction in which Mr. Montgomery was taking the company, but, crucially, they did not manage to garner support from City investors, who backed Mr. Montgomery instead. In a move strongly encouraged by Mr. Montgomery, Mecom disposed of its German titles - including the Berliner Zeitung - last week, selling them to M DuMont Schauberg for �152 million. This followed a negotiated postponement several weeks ago of a banking covenant test, the requirements of which will presumably now be easier for the company to meet.

Pan-European broadcasters post mixed results

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:15:00 --0100

ProSiebenSat.1 Media and the RTL Group have just announced results showing mixed fortunes. RTL's EBITDA climbed by 1.6% to �577 million for the nine months to the end of September, as its German business compensated for slowness elsewhere, while ProSiebenSat.1's suffered a 17% drop to �103.1 million as its German business performed poorly. It announced its net loss for the third quarter was �10.7 million.

Mecom's debt burden hits share price

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:02:00 --0100

The share price of the media group Mecom, which owns over 300 newspaper titles in Europe including Germany's Berliner Zeitung and the Brabants Dagblad in the Netherlands, dropped by nearly a quarter yesterday to 3.7p. The share price has now dropped 96% since June 2007. Mecom has a heavy debt burden and there are fears that the company may breach its banking covenants. An unscheduled interim management statement was rushed out, in which it was reported that revenues for the quarter ending September were down 2.6% year-on-year. Executive chairman David Montogomery commented: "The deterioration in global economic activity is being reflected in a recent slowdown in advertising performance and a weakening in the market outlook."