News

Televisa’s Q2 revenue rises but profit drops

Grupo Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish language broadcaster, has announced a 16% year-on-year drop in profits to $105m in its 2012 Q2 financial results.

The broadcaster was hit by costs of $71m in the quarter which was approximately twice as much as last year’s quarterly total. Sales however rose by 12% to $1.27bn, beating analyst forecasts.

As a result of the performance, Televisa raised its 2012 sales forecast in the content unit which includes broadcast advertising, syndication revenue and cable channel sales. Content revenue is expected to grow by approximately 7-8% in 2012 compared to an earlier forecast of 6-7%.

Over the quarter, the company gained 267,090 satellite TV subscribers and 14,500 video subscribers through its three cable units. The group’s internet and phone divisions also added 36,100 and 15,400 customers respectively.

Grupo Televisa is covers Latin America and is headquartered in Mexico City.

One of Televisa’s closest rivals in the region, TV Azteca, recently changed its ad model in response to a leak of a ratings firm’s home samples list. Surrounding the same issue, Televisa has said that it will wait for an official statement from the firm before making any similar decisions.

David Hing, London