Spanish agency Mediapro has recorded a 40-per-cent increase in its gross operating profit for the 2015 financial year, adding that it expects a further rise for 2016.
The group secured ebitda (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) of €129m ($144.6m), versus the 2014 figure of €90m. This was achieved despite turnover dropping 1.37 per cent year-on-year from €1.53bn in 2014 to €1.509bn.
Mediapro said its forecasts for 2016 place ebitda at approximately €170m, adding that all of its divisions – Audiovisual Services, Content and Audiovisual Rights – contributed to the overall growth in 2015.
In its review of the year, Mediapro said its Audiovisual Services business unit has become one of the world leaders in live coverage of major events for television. In 2015, Mediapro covered major events such as football’s Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, the Fifa U-17 World Cup in Chile, the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship in Qatar, EuroHockey Nations Championship in London and the 2015 EuroBasket basketball tournament, which was co-hosted by France, Germany, Croatia and Latvia.
In 2015, Mediapro signed an innovative deal with YouTube to broadcast the beIN Sports channel live, via the video-sharing platform. The agreement meant that the Spanish Liga club football league became the first major football league to be accessible live via YouTube.
In 2015, LaLiga, the governing body of the Spanish football league, commissioned the agency to handle the international marketing of its rights and in doing so, secured sales in excess of €600m. In 2015, Mediapro was also selected as the agent for managing international rights of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A league, while it also secured the rights to the Formula One motor racing championship across multiple markets in Latin America. In Spain, Mediapro secured the principal premium content package offered by LaLiga for the upcoming three seasons.
During 2015, Mediapro launched two new premium television channels exclusively devoted to Formula One and international football. In collaboration with beIN Sports Media, the group set up the beIN Sports pay-television channel in Spain.
Meanwhile, Canal F1 Latin America was formed as the platform to exploit Mediapro’s Formula One rights in the region. Mediapro said it has already gained 8m subscribers through carriage deals with 14 local operators.