Eurosport generated a significant rise in operating profit despite a fall in revenue in 2013, according to French media company TF1, the pan-regional sports broadcaster’s parent company.
Eurosport’s full-year operating profit increased by €18.2m ($24.9m) to €81.8m, even though group revenue fell by €22.2m to €452.9m.
TF1 said that the year-on-year fall in revenue was due to the stronger major sporting events calendar the previous year, with the Uefa European Championships and London summer Olympic Games generating larger advertising sales for the broadcaster in 2012.
TF1, which agreed last month to sell a controlling stake in Eurosport to American media and entertainment company Discovery Communications nearly a year ahead of schedule, added that Eurosport’s “difficulties in the Spanish and Scandinavian markets… (were) partly offset by the channel’s success in Eastern and Central Europe and by the expansion of Eurosport Asia-Pacific.”