Welcome to Atresmedia nine months 2021 results presentation. At the end of the presentation, we will have a Q&A session. If you wish to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad We kindly ask you to make one question at a time. The conference will begin shortly. Thank you. Kathleen Milano with S&P Global Market Intelligence.
There has been 7.5%. If we talk about the small channels, what we call complementary channels, the audience share has been 7.1%. All in all, I think that talking about content and audience, it's been a very good year for this group. About digital, I think that it's clear that we have consolidated our leadership among all the national audiovisual players. Our unique user numbers have been 27 million for the first 10 months. If we talk of our SVOD platform, we have reached 418,000 subscribers by the end of September, which means that we have multiplied by 1.4x the figure we obtained in September 2020. Also a quite successful operation for us. About the financials, the total revenue of this period has reached EUR 665 million. 6.6% on a year-on-year basis.
Talking about the audiovisual, the total net revenue has been EUR 624 million, with an increase of 15%. The market share for Atresmedia Televisión has been 42%, which means a slight increase compared with the same period for 2020, which I think implies a very good performance if we put into consideration that this year has been the Olympic Games and the Euro Cup, both of them we didn't have in our grid. It means that we have increased our market share despite all these sports events that were in the competitors' hands, not in ours. The total net advertising revenue of the television has been EUR 500 million, with an increase of 15.5%. In digital, it's been EUR 45 million, with an increase of 48.6%. I think that both in television and in digital, we are doing a very good year.
Talking a little bit about the content production and distribution division, the revenues has reached EUR 56 million, which means a slight decrease compared with 2020. That is, as you know, the difference in the schedules of production and distribution and giving them to the customers. We expect that by the end of the year, this decrease will be offset. In the other divisions, the revenues has grown by 20.3% to EUR 22 million. I think that's good news in terms of revenues. About the radio activities, the net advertising revenues has been EUR 48 million, which means an increase of 8.3%. In the case of the OpEx, the total OpEx for this period has been EUR 545 million, with an increase of 7.4%. The EBITDA of the period has been EUR 120 million, which means an increase of 64.4% compared with the same period for 2020.
That means that the EBITDA margin has been 18%, which is slightly above the one we obtained in 2019. The conversion has been 55% from revenues to EBITDA, which is slightly better than our guidance. I think that also very good news in terms of the EBITDA level. The net profit has been EUR 8 million versus the EUR 40 million we obtained in 2020, which means doubling it. In the case of the net debt, the actual situation is the debt is only EUR 9 million. Sorry, EUR 11 million, which compared with the EUR 117 we had at the end of December 2020. Let's say that this is something due to some different schedule of payment, and by the end of the year, we expect to have a net debt of something around EUR 100 million, and we include here the payment of the dividend.
For just to know the situation. What about the future? What do we foresee about the last part of the year? Well, October is being a flattish month. It is true that October 2020 was a very good month because of, let's say, people was at home and began to go out, and the advertising had a very positive impact. In October 2021, it's flat compared with 2020. We do think that this will be the trend also for November and December. That's why we still stick to our guidance of market growing by 8%-9% by the end of the year. By business unit, we do think that TV, radio, and digital will outperform the market as we have done in the previous months. Let's say the same trend as the past.
Talking about the content production and distribution, our activities here should be growing because we are comparing with a very low level in the last quarter of 2020. Now, talking about OpEx, I think that we will stick to our guidance also about the total OpEx for the whole year. We will also stick to that. We will translate every year in revenues and at least 50% of that at the EBITDA level. That's what I can say for the rest of the year, which is, I think it will be a very good year. I don't think that the margin will be better than 8%-9% by the end of that year. That's all. Now we are open to your questions.
Okay. We open the Q&A questions, if there is any. Just give a minute to see if there are any questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Q&A session starts now. If you wish to ask a question, please press zero one of your telephone keypads. We kindly ask you to make one question at a time. The first question comes from Richard Eary from UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning. This question is just on auto. Obviously, if you looked at the numbers for the nine months and relative to the six months, it seems there was quite a headwind in there in the third quarter from the auto. Can you just maybe pull that apart and just try to highlight what happened in auto in the third quarter and what you're seeing around supply chain issues going into the fourth quarter, and whether that's the reason why October is basically flattish and why you're being somewhat maybe cautious around November and December? That's the first question. Thanks.
You're right. In October, autos have even disappeared, and we do expect the same thing for November and December because of the crisis of these semiconductors and all that. Then they can provide the cars so they cannot sell any. That's why I think that November and December will be the same as October, which is more or less be flat compared to October. On the positive side of this thing is that we are making the same figures without autos. That's very important for us, both in terms of the market share and the price. They are the high-value type of customers. You're right. That's the question of why we are not that optimistic that we can maintain the growth of the market by the end of the year.
Can you please just elaborate what auto was down in the third quarter? Was it just mainly September?
Do you mean why autos were down?
No, not why, just the magnitude of the decline.
It's more or less 30%.
Okay. Is that what we're seeing in October as well?
Yes. Well, the impact of the weakness of the automobile market is pressing on October, November and December. October and November, mainly, because these are the two months where autos have been statistically very important in the market, and now they have disappeared.
Okay. Just two other questions. One is just on the content side. Obviously, you've said you expect growth in the fourth quarter, given an easy comp. What should we be thinking in terms of actual physical numbers in terms of the studio numbers for the other revenues, including the Atresmedia Diversificación?
Yeah. Richard. In the side of Atresmedia Diversificación and distribution, in the fourth quarter, we are expecting that there are certain impact in Q4 because this year is more along the year, all the different deliveries of the products, not like last year, in which there was just one product per quarter. It will be more, I would say, spread all along this year. Enough to get to similar levels of revenues as you saw in the last year or the whole year. Meaning we are catching up, to say better. We are catching up in the fourth quarter in the area of Atresmedia Diversificación and distribution to get to the same absolute levels in that area by the end of the year. Okay.
Okay. That's clear. Maybe just a last question. If we look at Atresplayer, obviously up year-on-year, when you look at September versus September last year, but it was actually down basically on the June number. Is there any reason for that? Is that a seasonality or is it a seasonality issue, and how should we think about that?
Well, there are two reasons. One, we have increased prices to the whole subscriber base in July. This has a certain impact, and it's also very much related to the content. We have not been pressing on content on this month, but we will do that by November. We are releasing Cardo, which is also, I think, a type of fiction that works very well because it is very much in the line of Veneno and all that. We are not concerned about that figure because I think we are doing quite well, and we cover the trend in the future and very much. The impact has been very much two effects. One, of the increase of price, and two, that the content we have had has not been the best because we do think that, this month, we are not that important.
From November on, we will push a little bit on the content, and we do think that will work in the terms of increasing the subscriber base.
Thank you. Maybe just one last question, if I may. It's just on the share from Atresmedia. It's been quite a good year so far. How do we think about things in the fourth quarter? Is there any other basic things that we should be aware about in terms of these Brexit deals that should influence those numbers in the fourth quarter?
Well, we don't think there's nothing significant. In terms of media for equity, we have done all what we planned for the year, which is selling Mega, selling Bipi. We don't expect to do any more deal in the last quarter and also in other revenues. We will be more or less as we expected. No news on that side.
Great. Many thanks.
Yep. Thank you, Richard. Let's see if there are any other questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder. The next question comes from Fernando Cordero from Banco Santander . Please go ahead.
Hello. Good afternoon. Just one question from my side. I would like to discuss a little bit on the radio business. We have seen radio underperforming during the third quarter. I can understand that the sports content is quite relevant for the radio business, and particularly in this third quarter where the Euro Cup was partially present. I would like to understand what could be the potential or if there is any concern on the radio market share going forward. Should we expect any kind of rebound of the business here? Just some thoughts.
Well, about radio, it's performing a little bit worse than television because the gap between 2021 and 2019 is bigger than the television has. I do think it's doing quite well. In our case, we are a little bit below our competitors when comparing 2021 with 2020. If you make the comparison with both years, 2021 and 2019, we are more or less the same result. We are down by 21% versus 2019. PRISA is something like down by 17% versus 2019, and COPE at 21%. The case that we did much better in 2020. Much better than them. We outperformed the market by far. We are now getting to the same levels we had previously to the COVID disease.
At the same time, in the radio business, we are something like a work in progress because we have changed all the sports area, and we need to see how that is working. As you know, radio searching tools are different from television. We do have the figures quarter after quarter, and also it's a long-term type of trend. We need to give time to this sport proposal in the case of sports. At the same time, as you know, we have the bad news that our anchor woman in our afternoon magazine, which is Julia, Julia Otero, had a disease, and so she's not heading the program since more than six months. We do expect her to recover soon, and I do think that by the end of the year, we will be again.
I do think that with us, will have a positive impact in the audience. Talking about the musical format, there's also a big change. We changed the anchorman of the morning show there, which was Cárdenas, with a new program, heading by two people, a male and a female. We are now in a changing process, but I do think that the result is anyway good in the radio. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando. Can we move to the next question, please?
Thank you. The next question comes from Fernando Abril-Martorell from Alantra. Please go ahead. Mr. Fernando Abril-Martorell , you have the floor. Thank you.
Hello? Can you hear me?
Yes. Fernando, go ahead.
Okay. Sorry. I was on mute. First question is related to the market. I don't know if you can share with us your thoughts on what to expect for the market in 2022. It might be a bit too early now, but considering that Q1 this year was very weak, that it is expected 18% of GDP growth and the outdoor business should come at some point, I guess, next year. I don't know if you can comment a bit on what you expect for the next year.
Sorry, we are muted now. As you say, I think it's a little bit soon. We are just in the middle of a budget process, and we need to review all the different items. Just in general, what I see is that there is room enough in order to catch up 2019. That's good news. It's also good news that the auto sector has disappeared in the last quarter. We think that it will come back by mid-June next year. First part of the year, I think that the automobile sector will be also out of the market. Also, they devote the most part of the budget in the last part of the year. That's a good thing to think that the market will have certain growth. We need to review everything.
It's too soon to say which our view on the market for the future. All in all, I think that, of course, it will be positive. The point is which is the positive that we think. If it's low single digit or high single digit, it's too soon to say anything now.
Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando.
Can I have another question?
Sure. Go ahead.
Okay. Second question is, last one, is on the shareholder remuneration. You are considering an interim dividend before year-end. Are you considering anything else? An extra dividend considering the low debt levels, or any buyback at all?
Well, now we are just in the process of recovering the dividend policy, which is, as you know, two payments by December and by April, more or less, and we still need approval of the board. I think that we will go back to the old policy of giving at least up to 80% of the net profit in dividends. We are not in any movement other than that. We are not expecting, we have not studied anything of extra dividend or the buyback of shares of the company. Just in the terms of going back to the old policy of giving the shareholders up to 80% of the net profit as a total dividend.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Fernando. We move into the next question, please.
Thank you. We have another question from Fernando Cordero from Banco Santander. Please go ahead.
I'm thinking a follow-up question. It is on capital allocation. In that sense, I would like to understand what are the views regarding the potential investments on organic growth going forward. Particularly, at which point should we expect any kind of increase of diversification, if you are still looking for deals or for businesses that can be complementary, like the case of H2H, in the case of what you say M&As that you have done in recent years. Just to understand a little bit how is your thoughts on capital allocation, particularly in growth.
Well, we are always searching the market in order to see whether there's something that could be interesting for us. As you know, we have just made a deal creating a company called Sonora, which will be in the podcast business, will be a streaming subscription type of business, and it will be launched by the first quarter of 2022. This is our main goal. We are focused on that and see whether this could be a good business for us, and very much related with our business, because it's everything related with audiovisual. We are always reviewing what things can we do. This is our focus now, which is this SPS subscription audio platform called Sonora, and let's see how it works and let's focus on that for the moment. Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando. Do you have more questions, Fernando?
No. That's all. Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you, in order to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the next question comes from Germán García Bou from JB Capital Markets . Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I just wanted to know if you can elaborate about your views on the free cash flow generation during the next quarter. We've seen a very significant improvement in the third quarter helped by a series of factors. If you could elaborate, please, on the following quarter, and if you could confirm what you initially mentioned at the beginning of the call about reaching a net debt of close to EUR 100 million by year-end. Thank you very much.
Well, yes. For you to know that we are expecting to pay dividends, and we are expecting also to pay some payables that had been delayed, so that by the end of the year, we'll be more or less by EUR 100 million on the total net debt. We expect the working capital flat because we have made lower investments, and also in terms of inventory, we have consumed more than produced for the third quarter. That's more or less the evolution of the cash flow of the company.
To refresh, Germán García, the main point is regarding the dividend, as Silvio said. There are also tax payments that for calendar issues were not done in the third quarter. Then the movements of the payables that Silvio also referred that probably will take place in the fourth quarter. The normal movements of the working capital in this year, because it takes receivables from zero level of activity from summer. All in all, we'll make our net debt move into the levels of EUR 100, as Silvio said.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions. JC, back to you.
Yeah. Well, there are no more questions, so if you have any other, just refer to the investor relations department. In any case, I wish you all a very good afternoon, and next time. Thank you. Bye-bye.