Good morning, this is the conference operator. Welcome and thank you for joining the TF1 half year 2025 results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in listen- only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Rodolphe Belmer, Chief Executive Officer, and Professor Pierre-Alain Gérard, Executive Vice President, Finance Strategy and Procurement. Please go ahead, sir.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I am Rodolphe Belmer, Groupe CEO, and along with Pierre-Alain Gérard, CFO, we present TF1 Groupe's H1 2025. First of all, we would like to share with you the key highlights of the first half audience. First, in H1 the Groupe maintained its leadership among women under 50 with a share of 33.7% and among the target of individuals aged 25 to 49 with 30.7% share. The TF1 channel, our flagship, maintained its high audience share in the four target Groupe reaching 18.7% and LCI, our news channel, set a two-year record by reaching a 2.4% audience share following the renumbering of DTT channels that took effect on 6th June. In digital, TF1+ attracted 35 million streamers per month on average in H1 and up to 39 million streamers in June 2025, a new record.
Second, financial performance, the Groupe's consolidated revenue amounted to €1.1 billion in H1, stable year on year. The Groupe's advertising revenue was down 2.5% at €782 million, impacted by macro uncertainties. Also bear in mind that we had a high base for comparison with the Euro 2024. Advertising revenue generated by TF1+ maintained a strong growth momentum, rising by 41% year on year up to €92 million over the semester. COPA amounted to €131 million, broadly stable year on year, and margin was slightly up, increasing by 0.2 points up to 11.9%. The Groupe also maintained a strong financial position with net cash of €473 million at end June, up €26 million versus the end of June of last year. After a first part of the year marked by a more challenging advertising market than expected and with visibility remaining very limited, we confirm our 2025 guidance.
Let's go now into more details on today's agenda. We'll first give you an update on our business activities, then we'll provide details on our financial results, and after that, of course, we will update you on our strategy and outlook. For those of you who are joining by phone, note that we are broadcasting this presentation as a webcast, and you can also find it on our corporate website. Let's start with a quick update on our business lines, Linear, Streaming, and Studio. First, turning to page number six, a quick reminder of why TV and TF1 in particular offers unmatched value in the media landscape. Reach is the key factor underpinning the value we deliver to our customers.
In H1TV, overall daily reach stood at 77% while TF1 Groupe maintained an unrivaled position covering 53% of French people every day, well above any other media business such as YouTube, SVOD services, and TikTok. On the right-hand side of the slide, you can also see that beyond reach, TF1 also delivers a superior return on investment for advertisers. Every euro invested in advertising on the TF1 channel generates €6.3 of additional sales and even up to €6.6 on prime time slots of TF1. The return for our DTT channels is also high at €6.6. That's way above any other TV player and also above digital competitors, underpinning the strong resilience and pricing power of our Groupe in the French market. Now turning to page seven and our audience performance.
The Groupe maintained its leadership across commercial targets, and the TF1 channel retained a significant lead over its main commercial competitor, ahead by 9.2 points in the Women Under 50 target Groupe with an audience share of 22.9% and ahead by 7.7 points among individuals aged 25 to 49, with an audience share of 20.3%. The TF1 channel had strong ratings in H1 in each genre, ranking number one in French drama, news, entertainment, and movies. Turning to our streaming strategy on page number eight, our strategy is to leverage the Groupe's solid content lineup to address both linear and non-linear exploitations. 21% of total viewing comes from non-linear consumption among individuals aged 25 to 49 for the TF1 channel. This share is even higher on our strongest franchises, reaching, for example, close to 50% non-linear viewing for HP.
Now, looking at the right-hand side of the page, let me give you an update on the platform's performance. Building blocks: awareness, TF1+ reached 81% aided awareness at the end of June, a three-point increase versus October of last year. Today, more than half of TF1+ regular users consider TF1+ as a streaming platform as opposed to a simple catch-up platform. On first visibility, the TF1+ app was visible on the TV screen landing page in 65% of households owning a connected TV, an 8-point increase from December 2023, which is quite significant. On consumption now, TF1+ attracted 35 million streamers per month on average in H1 and up to 39 million streamers in June, setting a new record. Overall, streamers watched 559 million hours of content on TF1+ in H1 according to Médiamétrie, which is 1.4 times the figure achieved by the second-ranked platform in the French market.
In terms of site-centric figures, which cover all streaming usage not captured by Médiamétrie, such as specific, devoted, and aggregated content, for instance, as well as the consumption we produce outside of France, streamed hours rose by 11% year on year. On ad inventories, the ad load reached more than 5 minutes per hour on average in H1, a 6% increase versus last year. On the value front, the CPM reached €13.5 per hour, a 2% increase over H1 2024. As a result, advertising revenue generated by TF1 rose by more than 41%, reaching €92 million in H1. As a reminder, our ambition is to establish TF1+ as the leading advertising-based free streaming platform for family entertainment in French-speaking markets. We want to build a cultural community around the French language without premium content.
To that end, after the initial launch we made in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland late in 2024, TF1+ was rolled out in 22 African countries on June 30 with promising initial results. At this stage, our top three countries in Africa in terms of streamed hours are Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. French-speaking markets now altogether represent 6% of total streamed hours on the platform. Turning to page 10 for an update on Studio TF1. Its revenue totaled €128 million in H1, growing by 6%, notably with a contribution from JPG of €11 million. Like-for-like, revenue was broadly stable. Highlights in the quarter included the launch on TF1, TF1+, and Netflix of our new daily series Tout pour la lumière , or All for Light in English.
It included also the production of the Flemish version of Dancing with the Stars for Belgian channel VTM, the delivery of the documentary series From Rockstar to Killer to Netflix, and the theatrical releases of the films Jouer avec le feu, The Quiet Son in English, and Avignon, with both receiving awards at major film festivals. Now Pierre-Alain Gérard for the Financial section.
Thank you, Rodolphe.
Good morning, everyone. Let's move now to a more detailed breakdown of our financial results for H1 2025. You will find additional information in our consolidated financial statements and their notes, as well as our management report, all of which are available on our website. First, a word on revenue on page 12. TF1 Groupe consolidated revenue amounted to €1.1 billion in H1, stable year on year and in line with the company compiled consensus. Revenue from the media segment declined by 0.9% to €975 million. Advertising revenue amounted to €782 million, down 2.5%. After a stable Q1, ad revenue was down 4.4% in Q2, impacted by macro uncertainties. Also, bear in mind that we had a high base of comparison with the Euro 2024, and despite these headwinds, TF1 gained market shares both in linear and digital.
According to our estimates, TF1+ maintained its strong growth momentum with advertising revenue increasing by 45% in Q2 and 41% in H1, reaching €92 million over the period. Again, let me remind you that we only disclose advertising revenue here and not a broader streaming revenue. Non-advertising revenue in the media segment amounted to €193 million in H1, up 6% year on year, driven by the good performance of interactivity and music and live shows. Studio TF1's revenue totaled €128 million in H1, an increase of 6% year on year. That figure includes an €11 million contribution from JPG. As mentioned during our Q1 results, the year will be back end loaded like in 2024. It will notably be driven by the activity of Studio TF1, America, JPG, and Real1 and by the distribution business on page 13.
Moving on to COPA, it amounted to €131 million in H1 2025, broadly stable year on year, up €2 million and above the company compiled consensus. Margin from activity slightly increased by 0.2 points to 11.9%. The media segment reported COPA of €125 million in H1, stable year on year, which is a solid performance in a challenging advertising market. Our premium lineup led to programming cost of €451 million in H1. The slight decrease compared to last year is mostly related to the Euro 2024 base effect. Studio TF1 generated COPA of €6 million, a slight increase of €2 million, including the cost of setting up the new ERP, which, as a reminder, was fully recognized in the first quarter. Studio TF1's margin was up 5 points
to 10.2% in Q2.
Regarding the income statement on page 14, I have already commented on the consolidated revenue in COPA. Looking further down, operating profit totaled €119 million, up €4 million year- on- year. That figure includes €7 million in amortization charges related to the intangible assets arising from JPG acquisition and €5 million in non-recurring expenses relating to.
The Groupe's digital acceleration plan. Net profit attributable to the Groupe excluding.
The exceptional tax was €93 million, close to its level of last year. The €3 million change was mainly related to the year-on-year decrease in financial income due to lower market interest rates.
Income tax expense for the first half, including an exceptional contribution on French companies.
Under the 2025 Finance Bill, this exceptional €14 million surtax for the period comprises €10 million based on 2024 taxable profits, fully recognized in Q1. As mentioned during our annual results conference call, the exceptional tax impact for the full year is expected to be around €20 to €25 million. Moving on to the net cash position at the end of June 2025, the TF1 Groupe had a solid financial position with net cash of €473 million, up €26 million year on year. The €33 million decrease compared to end December 2024 mostly reflects a free cash flow after working capital of €97 million and the dividend payments by TF1 of €125 million in April.
Now back to Rodolphe, who will give
you an a date on our strategy
outlook.
Exactly as recently showcased during our July upfront, we'll continue to offer in the second half of 2025 the best proposition of free, family-oriented, and serialized entertainment. Highlights will include the return of some major franchises, including Star Academy and the final episodes of the French drama HPI. New premium and ambitious French series like Montmartre or ETA Transit will be launched on TF1 and TF1+ following the Women's Euro 2025. The Groupe will continue to broadcast the main sports event of the year, notably with the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup in England. The new Teddy series, All for Light Tout pour la Lumière , which has been available on TF1, TF1+, and also on Netflix since June, now ranks among the top five shows on the platform and will be broadcast until September.
As you know, our objective is to sustainably finance the best lineup of family-friendly and premium programs going forward. After launching TF1+ in January 2024 and establishing it as a premium alternative to YouTube, the Groupe is now entering the second phase of its strategic plan, which comprises three pillars. The first pillar of this new phase is the launch of a new form of monetization on TF1+ in the form of micropayments starting in September 2025. September 1st, our goal is to diversify revenue sources we can generate from our programs beyond linear and digital advertising. We call it micropayments or in-app purchase, which aims to create distinctive forms of monetization for our content. We are inspired by a business model that has proven successful in mobile gaming.
Users will be able to enjoy new features, for instance, allowing on-demand access to each content without ad break, but for a modest fee. If you do the math, the revenue potential is significant if a portion of our monthly streamers transact several times a month. The second pillar is the extension of the Groupe's distribution strategy, illustrated by the landmark deal signed with Netflix. Starting in Summer 2026, we will show all our linear channels, the five of them, on Netflix, as well as more than 30,000 hours of content available on TF1+. This unprecedented alliance will unlock additional reach for TF1+ as a significant portion of Netflix subscribers, around 12 million in France, according to various sources, consider Netflix as their primary source of TV entertainment. In addition, TF1+ will benefit from Netflix's unrivaled expertise in content recommendation.
Finally, the third pillar of this new strategic phase is the extension of the distribution of TF1+ within French-speaking markets worldwide, notably with the launch in 22 African countries at the end of June, with the aim of being the leading entertainment platform in those markets. To conclude, going to page 18, reminder of our guidance after the first part of the year marked by a more challenging advertising market than expected and with visibility remaining very limited, the Groupe confirms its 2025 guidance. Strong double-digit revenue growth in digital, broadly stable margin from activities compared with 2024, aiming for a growing dividend policy in the coming years. Thank you for your attention, and now we are ready to take your questions.
Thank you. This is the conference operator. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star, and one at this time. The first question is from Conor O'Shea, Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you, morning, and thank you for taking my questions. Three questions. First question, if we can have just a little bit more color on what you're seeing for the start of the third quarter and particularly ahead of September, and how that relates, I think, to the comments you made in the press release about April weakening span from April. Are you seeing any stabilization of that or any improvement, or does that continue into Q3? Second question, based on the Netflix deal, can you let us know whether there's any carriage fee component to that? I mean, I understand the idea behind increasing the reach for advertising purposes, but is there also a second stream of revenue coming from carriage fees payable by Netflix for carrying your channels? Third question, any update on the thinking behind what to do with the net cash balance?
Any further thoughts on that would be interesting. Thank you.
Thank you, Conor. On the advertising outlook for the rest of the year, as we said in our presentation and we insisted on that, this year is particularly marked with a lack of visibility given the macroeconomic situation. Still, what we see in the third quarter, which has already started, where a month in the third quarter of the year, is the following. First, we break down our revenues in two pockets. I would say there is digital and there is linear. In digital, the first part of the year has been very solid for us with a 41% growth, and we continue to see very solid demand in digital for the rest of the year, which leads us to reiterate our guidance of a strong double-digit growth in digital and the underpinning market. The underpinning demand for that portion, for that line of business, is very solid.
We estimate that the demand for digital advertising in the BVOD segment has been up 30% over the first semester. Now, there is the linear business, which has historically been the bread and butter of our company and which still represents a significant portion of our revenues. This part of the business has been marked by a lower demand over the first half, and we estimate that the French market has been down by a bit less than 8% over the first part of the year, and our revenues in the linear segment have been a bit better, meaning that we have beaten the market and we have grown our market share.
Looking in the second part of the year, the second half, we estimate that linear demand should be still in negative territory but with a very low single-digit decline, meaning that the trend should improve even though the demand will be slightly negative in the second half. Those are the two underpinning elements of our outlook for the rest of the year: very solid demand in digital that we will beat and better trend, even though negative, in linear that we will also beat. On the Netflix deal, of course, I cannot reveal confidential elements of our contract, which are marked by the customary confidentiality constraints. What I can say is that the contractual form of the arrangement we have made with Netflix is a distribution deal, meaning that this deal is built with the customary conditions of a distribution deal.
Maybe, Conar, I'll take the question on the net cash position.
As you know, for us, the
Financial Policy of the Groupe is to
be in a net cash position. We have.
It's very important, especially in turbulent times, to be able to count on the solid balance sheet. Being in a net cash position is important.
It gives us, as you have seen.
Last year, strong agility when we identify a target suiting our strategic and financial guidelines. The last point, as you know, part of our guidance is to aim for an increasing dividend in the coming years, which is what we've done, increasing our dividend by almost 10% last year.
Okay, very clear. May, thanks.
The next question is from Julien Roques, Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning.
Thank you for taking my question. The first one is on Studio,
Studio TF1, if we could get the.
Organic growth rate in the first half, then you gave us the number of streaming hours at 559.
Can we get the total hours of viewing across all devices and all channels? Lastly, Rodolphe, if you could come back to what you explained about
the next phase of your strategy and
Micropayment on your streaming platform, TF1+. Can you give us some example of what
people would pay for, and maybe some
price points, more color on that potential source of revenue?
Good morning, Julien. On Studio TF1 organic growth, if we exclude the perimeter effects of JPG, it is flat, flattish.
Slightly negative, minus 2% excluding the €11 million contribution
from JPG.
Streaming hours. The total figures of the number of hours, viewing hours that we produced across the Groupe, including linear, in the first semester is 8.5 billion hours. Within that, 500 million were made on the digital platform. That's not really the way we assess. We view, we comprehend our business. We truly believe that our business is made of two different lines of activity. If we think of the commercial strategy and the monetization strategy, there is one part of the business which is linear and which is underpinned by customer demand for linear advertising. This is a mature market, slightly shrinking in the first half. Shrinking is in the first half and slightly shrinking in the second half.
Should I stay in that business, in that line of business, in that segment? It's a market share game, and we're focused on increasing the market share of the Groupe in that segment. We are doing that quite well. We have gained a bit less, close to 1% of market share over the first semester. In the digital space, our objective is to take a foothold in that segment, which is growing very fast and from which we have historically been absent, and which is occupied by the likes of YouTube. and want to take a significant market share in that market by presenting ourselves to the customers as an alternative to the current players occupying that segment. This is done by creating digital business which delivers significant digital inventories. That's what we do quite well with gf, well, press.
This is totally distinct commercial strategies in the two segments of our business. Micropayments, we see that as a significant source of incremental monetization and business generation for our Groupe. As you know, in the mobile space, the in-app purchase represents a significant source of business, probably one- third of all the revenue generation on mobile. Two of the third being made with advertising and subscription, as you know well. We want to deploy that form of mobile monetization on the TV screens, which are getting connected now, like the smartphones are connected. What kind of product are we developing? For the moment, we are announcing three products that we are developing and that we will launch in the last quarter of this civil year. Starting in September, we will propose to our users on TF1 to watch episodes of series in Avant Première for a small amount of money.
This amount of money will be in the order of €1 per episode, meaning that you can see the next episode of our blockbuster series Ashpay in advance. If you pay €1 per episode, that's the first product. In October, we will launch the ability to watch each of our content without advertising. You can choose to watch each episode, for instance, of our series, of our daily soaps, of our entertainment shows. You can decide to watch each of them without advertising for a very small amount of money, which will be also in the order of €1, VAT included. We are also developing companion products, companion shows on our blockbuster franchises, which will also be proposed for a small amount of money.
For instance, we have a very popular franchise which will be released during the course of the last quarter, which is called Star Academy, a talent show which is very popular in France, a very powerful pop culture event, notably for the younger people in the country. We are launching a 24-hour channel to accompany that show and that event. We will propose viewers to access that 24-hour channel specializing on Star Academy for €1 per day, order of €1 per day. That's the kind of products we are developing, and we think it could represent a substantial source of monetization. When we monetize our show, if you look at the revenue generation from usage point of view, each hour of show that we produce generates on TF1+, you can do the math very easily—around $0.20 per hour.
If we can generate revenues with micropayments with features we have described briefly previously, we can multiply that revenue by in order of five, which is per hour, which is very interesting.
The next question is from Christophe Cherblanc, Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking me. First question was on the H2 guidance, you basically are saying that you expect the market to be low single digit down. Should we expect the performance of TF1 versus the market to be at about the same order of magnitude that what we saw in H1?
That's the first question.
I've got two small questions. One is on the disposal of My Little Paris and Play Two. Can you give us the size of revenues and EBITDA that we are going to see dropping off the P&L, and when will that happen? The last one is on JPG. I think you said $11 million of contribution in H1. I had in my $9 million in Q1, which would suggest only $2 million in Q2, which seems super low. I know it's a seasonal business, but still, that seems super low. Maybe clarification there, and whether there was any EBITDA contribution from JPG in Q2. Thank you.
Thank you. On the H2 outlook, we don't give specific guidance, as you know well, for each semester. On the outlook, what we say is that I want to insist on that. When I said that the market will.
Be.
Low single- digit decline in H2, I meant the linear business, meaning that we estimate that the demand for linear advertising will be in negative territory at a very low single digit in H2, and we estimate that we will beat the market. I told you that because we are gaining market share. We have gained around a bit less than 1 percentage point market share in H1, and we consider we will deliver the same kind of performance, commercial performance, in H2, which gives you a sense of what we could expect from our linear business in H2. For digital, the demand will continue to be dynamic over H2. In H1, demand in France has grown by 30% year- on- year. We estimate that demand will continue to be at that kind of pace. We'll continue to have that kind of dynamics over H2, and we did.
Plus 41%, 41.2% precisely in H1. We reiterate that we will deliver a very strong performance, double- digit growth over H2. We estimate that we continue to beat the market. Why? Because we have a product, TF1+, which is very, very successful in the French market. You can measure by the penetration, by the growth in the number of viewing hours, and by our monetization ability. That's why we're very confident that in digital we continue to beat the market a lso. Maybe on MLP, and take it here.
I can take them. On My Little Paris, you know the rationale behind it. My Little Paris was part of the former unified segment, which was disposed a couple of years ago. We are finalizing and closing this operation in the coming weeks. It's about €30 million revenue and low single- digit COPA. For Play Two, it's a different kind of operation.
This was part of the protocol.
Signed with Be.Live in 2021, where Be.Live has the option to buy the exclusive.
Control of Play Two.
We are negotiating and finalizing the terms of the deal. You should expect it to be closed during Q3, Q4, and in terms of key figures, it's about €50 million and a low single COPA. The difference is that My Little Paris will be considered as a financial stake accounted for in the balance sheet, whereas on Play Two it will be placed as an associate, and we only gain a part of our remaining share of the net income. This is for My Little and Play Two. Regarding JPG, if you remember, in Q1, I mentioned that there was some kind of peak in activity in Q1 for the JPG given deal in music that happened, and that triggered an important depreciation in the PPA. This is the main element that we mentioned on JPG.
Usually, the activity is rather back-end loaded, and the activity in Q1, just to correct you, was around 8, less than 8 for Q1. The rest of the activity is more concentrated around the second half of the year.
There was no EBITDA contribution from JPG in Q2?
Yes, there was an EBITDA contribution of JPG in Q2.
Yes, positive one.
Okay.
Positive one.
Okay, thank you.
The next question is from Jérôme Bodin, ODDO BHF. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning everyone. Just three quick ones on my side. First of all, regarding TF1, I have understood that you have signed some revenue share agreement with distributors. I was wondering if the model is full speed because when I checked the other costs, they are not increasing so much at the moment. I was wondering if the revenue share would increase more in the coming quarters. That's my first one. Second one, just a follow- up on micropayments.
Do you hold the rights?
Of most of your catalog for micropayments, or do you need to sign new contracts? Finally, regarding Africa, I know it's very small, but is it a species in advertising, sale or is it the same as for France? I'm just wondering if it is so far a monetized audience. Thank you.
Thank you, Jérôme . On TF1 and TF1+ and the rest of our DTT channels, under the distribution agreements we have with our distributors and notably to telcos, we have considered actually revenue sharing of the advertising which is made on TF1+ only, and where we return a small portion, a very small portion of the digital revenue we make on TF1+ to our distributors. Those agreements have been running for the past 18 months now, meaning that the full effect is reflected in our figures already. This is a very, very small portion of our revenue, which is shared. Micropayments, it's a good question because the rights for this usage, for this form of monetization, didn't exist before. It's a first- of- its- kind development in the TV space.
Even though this kind of monetization model is quite developed in mobile space, on the smartphones, it's new on TV, and it's sort of world premiere that we are doing. We had to clear, to create, to clear those rights for this utilization. That's what we did through a large interprofessional negotiation that we carried over the first semester, and which ended up with an agreement that we found with the producers at the end of the first semester. It was at the beginning of June, meaning that now those rights, they do exist, they are cleared, and we can proceed with this new monetization approach. On Africa, for the moment, there is no specific monetization of the African inventories that we do produce because it's still very small, still very nascent.
We start monetizing specifically for Africa when the volume of utilization is there, but for the moment very nascent, and we just take a foothold in Africa with TF1+.
Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Gentlemen, there are no more questions registered at this time from the conference call.
All right, thank you very much for attending this conference call of presentation of our first and just a very short closing remark before concluding that session, reminding that even though the first part of the year was marked by a more challenging advertising market than expected, and despite the visibility which remains very limited, we are able to reiterate our 2025 guidance today, notably with a strong digit, strong double digit revenue growth in digital, a broadly stable margin from activities compared with 2024, and also reiterating that we aim for a growing dividend policy in the coming years. Thank you again for your attention, and see you in three.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over, and you may disconnect your telephones.