Rcs Mediagroup S.p.a. MIL:RCS

RCS MediaGroup S p A : Interim Report at 30 September 2024

Published

Source: MarketScreener

Interim Management Statement

at 30 September 2024

English translation for convenience only. Only the italian version is authentic.

RCS MediaGroup S.p.A.

Via A. Rizzoli, 8 - 20132 Milan

Share Capital € 270,000,000.00 - Company Register and Tax Code/VAT no. 12086540155, REA no. 1524326

Subject to the direction and coordination of Cairo Communication S.p.A.

Table of Contents

Group financial highlights of RCS MediaGroup

3

Alternative performance measures

4

RCS Group performance at 30 September 2024

5

Significant events in the third quarter

15

Significant events after the third quarter

15

Outlook for the current year

16

Statement pursuant to Article 154 bis, paragraph 2 of the TUF

17

2

GROUP FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS OF RCS MEDIAGROUP

(€ millions)

30/09/2024

30/09/2023

31/12/2023

INCOME STATEMENT

Net revenue

602.3

606.8

828.0

EBITDA (1)

91.4

82.1

136.2

EBIT (1)

51.5

42.8

81.2

Profit (loss) before tax and non-controlling interests

42.0

34.5

70.6

Income tax

( 9.8)

( 6.7)

( 13.6)

Profit (loss) from continuing operations

32.2

27.8

57.0

Profit (loss) for the period attributable to the owners of the parent

32.1

27.8

57.0

Basic earnings (losses) per share: continuing operations (Euro)

0.06

0.05

0.11

Diluted earnings (losses) per share: continuing operations (Euro)

0.06

0.05

0.11

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

30/09/2024

30/09/2023

31/12/2023

Net capital employed

566.2

565.8

568.7

of which related to rights of use pursuant to IFRS 16

118.5

117.8

114.5

Net financial debt (liquidity) of the Group (1)

19.7

45.2

23.4

Financial payables from leases pursuant to IFRS 16

133.6

132.3

128.0

Equity

412.9

388.3

417.3

Average number of employees

2,907

2,967

2,955

  1. For the definitions of Group EBITDA, EBIT and Net Financial Position or Group net financial debt (liquidity), reference should be made to the section "Alternative Performance Measures" in this Interim Management Statement.

This Interim Management Statement was prepared on a voluntary basis, taking account of the provisions of Article 154-ter, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance ("TUF"). The reporting format is in line with the procedures laid down in Article 82-ter of CONSOB resolution no. 19770 and complies with the format of the Interim Management Statement at 30 September 2023. The provisions of the international accounting standard on interim financial reporting (IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting") are not applied.

***

This Interim Management Statement at 30 September 2024 was approved by the Board of Directors on 11 November 2024.

***

The first nine months of 2024 were dominated by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, with their repercussions extending to the economy and trade. These events persist in creating a state of significant overall uncertainty. The Group has no direct exposure and/or business activities towards the markets affected by the conflicts and/or sanctioned entities.

Against this backdrop, the Group achieved higher margins (EBITDA, EBIT, and net result) in first nine months 2024 than in the same period of 2023 and continued to generate positive cash flows, improving the net financial position by approximately € 3.7 million versus 31 December 2023, after distributing dividends to the market in May of approximately € 36.3 million.

3

ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES

In order to provide a clearer picture of the financial performance of the RCS Group, besides of the conventional financial measures required by IFRS, a number of alternative performance measures are shown that should, however, not be considered substitutes of those adopted by IFRS. In accordance with CESR/05-178b recommendation published on 3 November 2005, the methods used for building the main alternative performance measures that Management considers useful for monitoring the Group's performance are shown below.

EBITDA: to be understood as earnings before interest, tax, amortization/depreciation and write-downs of fixed assets. The measure is used by the RCS Group as a target to monitor internal management, and in public presentations (to financial analysts and investors). It serves as a unit of measurement to evaluate the operational performance of the RCS Group.

EBITDA before non-recurringexpense/income: to be understood as EBITDA as specified above before components of income (positive and/or negative) deriving from events or transactions, the occurrence of which is non-recurring, or deriving from transactions or events that are unlikely to occur frequently in the normal course of business.

EBIT: to be understood as the Result before tax, gross of "Financial Income (Expense)", "Income (Expense) from equity-accounted investees", and "Other income (expense) from financial assets/liabilities".

Group Net Financial Position or Group net financial debt (liquidity): this is a valid measure of the financial structure of the RCS Group. It is calculated as the result of current and non-currentfinancial payables, net of cash and cash equivalents and current financial assets, as well as non-currentfinancial assets from derivative instruments, excluding financial liabilities (current and non-current)from leases.

Total Net Financial Position or total net financial (liquidity) debt: to be understood as the Group's Net Financial Position as defined above, it includes financial liabilities from short and/or long-termlease agreements and non-remunerateddebt, which have a significant implicit or explicit financing component (e.g. trade payables with a maturity of over 12 months), and any other non-interest-bearingloans, and excludes financial receivables with a maturity of over 90 days (as defined by the "Guidelines on disclosure requirements under the Prospectus Regulation" published by ESMA on 4 March 2021 with document "ESMA32-382-1138"and taken up by CONSOB in communication 5/21 of 29 April 2021).

4

RCS GROUP PERFORMANCE AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The latest figures published by the IMF in October 2024 (through World Economic Outlook) estimate for Italy a GDP increase of 0.7% in 2024 and 0.8% in 2025, and for Spain a GDP increase of 2.9% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025.

In Italy, the inflation rate at September 2024 shows a YoY year change of +0.6% (ISTAT - FOI index excluding tobacco). In Spain, the YoY inflation rate stands at 1.5% (INE).

The Group's financial highlights at 30 September 2024 and related comments are shown below:

(€ millions)

30 September 2024

%

30 September 2023

%

Difference

Difference

A

B

A-B

%

Net revenue

602.3

100.0

606.8

100.0

(4.5)

(0.7%)

Publishing and circulation revenue

242.7

40.3

249.5

41.1

(6.8)

(2.7%)

Advertising revenue

237.1

39.4

239.7

39.5

(2.6)

(1.1%)

Sundry revenue (1)

122.5

20.3

117.6

19.4

4.9

4.2%

Operating costs

(324.0)

(53.8)

(337.5)

(55.6)

13.5

4.0%

Payroll costs

(183.3)

(30.4)

(183.7)

(30.3)

0.4

0.2%

Net provisions for risks

(1.6)

(0.3)

0.2

0.0

(1.8)

>100

(Write-down)/write-back of trade and sundry receivables

(2.0)

(0.3)

(3.7)

(0.6)

1.7

45.9%

EBITDA (2)

91.4

15.2

82.1

13.5

9.3

11.3%

Amortization of intangible fixed assets

(17.0)

(2.8)

(15.9)

(2.6)

(1.1)

Depreciation of tangible fixed assets

(7.0)

(1.2)

(7.1)

(1.2)

0.1

Amortization/depreciation of rights of use on leased assets

(15.8)

(2.6)

(16.2)

(2.7)

0.4

Depreciation of investment property

(0.1)

(0.0)

( 0.1)

( 0.0)

0.0

Other (write-downs)/write-backs of fixed assets

-

-

-

-

0.0

EBIT (2)

51.5

8.6

42.8

7.1

8.7

Financial income (expense)

(8.4)

(1.4)

(8.9)

(1.5)

0.5

Income (expense) from equity-accounted investees

(1.1)

(0.2)

(0.6)

(0.1)

(0.5)

Other income (expense) from financial assets/liabilities

-

-

1.2

0.2

( 1.2)

Profit (loss) before tax

42.0

7.0

34.5

5.7

7.5

Income tax

(9.8)

(1.6)

(6.7)

(1.1)

(3.1)

Profit (loss) from continuing operations

32.2

5.3

27.8

4.6

4.4

Profit (loss) from assets held for sale and discontinued operations

-

-

-

-

-

Profit (loss) before non-controlling interests

32.2

5.3

27.8

4.6

4.4

(Profit) loss attributable to non-controlling interests

( 0.1)

( 0.0)

-

-

( 0.1)

Profit (loss) for the period attributable to the owners of the parent

32.1

5.3

27.8

4.6

4.3

  1. Sundry revenue includes primarily revenue for television activities, the organization of events and exhibitions, sales of customer lists and boxed sets, and for distribution activities.
  2. For the definitions of EBITDA and EBIT, reference should be made to the section "Alternative Performance Measures" in this Interim Management Statement.

5

Relevant market performance

In Italy, the advertising market at August 2024 shows a 7.6% increase versus the same period of 2023. The print media segment dropped by an overall 5.3%, with newspapers and magazines down by -7.1% and by -1.4%. Increases were reported in the television (+10.4%), radio (+8.9%), and online segments (+5.5%, net of search, social, and over-the-top) (Nielsen, January-August2024).

At 30 September 2024, the Spanish gross advertising sales market rose by 5.3% versus the same period of 2023 (i2p, Arce Media). The newspaper market declined by 4.1%, while the magazine and supplement market fell less by 0.2%. Internet performed well (net of social media, portals, search, etc.), increasing by +0.9%, as well as the radio segment by +4.9%, and the television segment by +3.3% (i2p, Arce Media).

On the circulation front, generalist newspapers in Italy saw a 7.1% decline in print and digital circulation versus first nine months 2023, while sports newspapers experienced a 10.7% decline (ADS January-September2024). The magazine circulation market, referring to titles reported in ADS, dropped by 11% at September 2024 for weeklies (print and digital copies) versus the same period of the prior year. For monthlies, the same figure updated to August shows a 7.5% decline (Internal source based on ADS figures; weeklies with more than 48 editions and monthlies with more than 10 editions).

In Spain, circulation figures in first nine months 2024 show a decline versus the same period of 2023 for generalist newspapers (-8.5%), sports newspapers (-8.5%), and business newspapers (-9.4%) (OJD, January-September2024).

Performance

Against the above backdrop, the Group achieved higher margins (EBITDA, EBIT, and net result) in first nine months 2024 than in the same period of 2023 and continued to generate positive cash flows, improving the net financial position by approximately € 3.7 million versus 31 December 2023, after distributing dividends to the market in May of approximately € 36.3 million.

Mention should be made that RCS's seasonality factors generally impact on the income results of the first and third quarters of the year.

6

The change in revenue versus 30 September 2023 is shown below:

Consolidated revenue at 30 September 2024 amounted to € 602.3 million (€ 606.8 million at 30 September 2023). The change of € -4.5 million is attributable mainly to lower publishing and circulation revenue (€ -6.8 million), particularly revenue from add-ons (€ -1.9 million) and revenue from m-dis for its third-party publisher distribution business (€ -3.3 million), and lower advertising revenue (€ -2.6 million). Sundry revenue was up (€ +4.9 million). In the comparable period of 2023, Unidad Editorial's sundry revenue included non-recurring income of € 1.6 million.

Digital revenue increased to € 150.4 million (€ 148.6 million at 30 September 2023) and accounts for approximately 25% of total revenue.

Publishing and circulation revenue by business area is shown below:

(€ millions)

Publishing and circulation revenue

30/09/2024

30/09/2023

Change

% Change

Newspapers Italy

158.0

159.5

(1.5)

(0.9%)

Magazines Italy

17.1

19.3

(2.2)

(11.4%)

Unidad Editorial

52.9

53.2

(0.3)

(0.6%)

Corporate and Other Activities

17.2

20.5

(3.3)

(16.1%)

Other and eliminations

(2.5)

(3.0)

0.5

n.s.

Total Publishing and Circulation revenue (1)

242.7

249.5

(6.8)

(2.7%)

  1. Publishing revenue from add-ons at September 30, 2024 totalled € 31.6 million, of which € 29.9 million attributable to Newspapers Italy, € 1.4 million to Magazines Italy and € 0.3 million to Unidad Editorial. At 30 September 2023, the figure had amounted to € 33.5 million, of which € 30.9 million attributable to Newspapers Italy, € 2.4 million to Magazines Italy and € 0.1 million to Unidad Editorial.

Publishing and circulation revenue amounted to € 242.7 million (€ 249.5 million in the same period of 2023). The change is attributable to:

  • the decrease in Newspapers Italy publishing revenue of € -1.5 million, attributable mainly to the decline in revenue from add-ons (€ -1 million). The decline in print circulation revenue was basically offset by the growth in digital subscription revenue, of Corriere della Sera in particular.
    In the first nine months of 2024, Corriere della Sera and La Gazzetta dello Sport recorded an average circulation of 232 thousand and 147 thousand copies, including digital copies (ADS January-September2024). Both newspapers retained their circulation leadership in their respective market segments at September 2024 (ADS January-September2024).

7

La Gazzetta dello Sport, with the Audipress 2024/II survey, retained its position as the most-read Italian newspaper with 2,086,000 readers, followed in second place by Corriere della Sera with 1,697,000 readers.

At end September, the total active customer base for Corriere della Sera (digital edition, membership and m-site) reached 645 thousand subscriptions (595 thousand at end 2023 - Internal Source), while the customer base of Gazzetta's pay products (which includes G ALL, G+, GPRO and Fantacampionato products) reached 246 thousand subscriptions (214 thousand at end 2023 - Internal Source).

The main digital performance indicators confirm the top market position of RCS, with the Corriere della Sera and La Gazzetta dello Sport brands which counted, in the period January-August 2024, 29.1 million and 15.6 million average monthly unique users, and in the period January-September, 3.9 million and 2.1 million average daily unique users (Audicom).

In first eight months 2024 too, RCS ranks as the top online publisher in Italy with an aggregate figure of 30.9 million average monthly unique users (net of duplications - Audicom).

The main social accounts of the Corriere System at 30 September 2024 reached 13.3 million total followers (considering Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and TikTok - Internal Source). The growth of social profiles also continues for La Gazzetta dello Sport, which topped a total social audience of 6.6 million followers at end September (considering Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube - Internal Source);

  • the strong resilience of Unidad Editorial's publishing revenue versus the same period of the prior year. In Spain too, the decline in print circulation was offset by growth in digital subscriptions.
    In first nine months 2024, the average daily circulation of El Mundo, Marca, and Expansión (including digital copies) stood at approximately 52 thousand copies, 50 thousand copies, and 22 thousand copies (OJD). Marca and Expansiòn again retained their circulation leadership in their respective market segments at September 2024 (OJD).
    In June, the 2024 second survey of Estudio General de Medios confirms Unidad Editorial Group's leading position in daily news reaching almost 1.6 million overall daily readers with the titles El Mundo, Marca and Expansión. Marca with 950 thousand readers is the most widely-read daily newspaper in Spain, and El Mundo the second among generalists and third among dailies reaching over 500 thousand readers. Digital subscriptions (digital edition and Premium) continued to grow, amounting at September 2024 (Internal Source) to over 154 thousand subscriptions (136 thousand at end 2023) for El Mundo and approximately 101 thousand subscriptions for Expansiòn (82 thousand at end 2023).
    As part of the online activities, elmundo.es, marca.com and expansión.com reached 39.7 million, 81.7 million and 8.9 million average monthly unique browsers in first nine months 2024, comprising both domestic and foreign browsers and including apps (Google Analytics). The international English- language version of Marca achieved 21.1 million average monthly unique browsers at September 2024 (Google Analytics), including in the marca.com browsers mentioned above.
    The social audience of Unidad Editorial Group titles (Internal Source) stands at 11.4 million followers for El Mundo, 19.7 million for Marca and 2.5 million for Telva (considering Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok) and 1.5 million for Expansión (considering Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and LinkedIn);
  • the decrease in Magazines Italy publishing revenue of € -2.2 million, attributable mainly to the decline in circulation and the performance of add-on products (€ -0.9 million).
    Titles in the Magazines Italy area on social media have an increasingly growing presence (considering Facebook and Instagram - Internal Source), in particular IO Donna recorded a social audience of 940 thousand at September 2024, Amica in the same period reached 417 thousand, while Living topped 860 thousand. Dove grew strongly, with a social audience of approximately 454 thousand, as well as Style, reaching 233 thousand. Lastly, Oggi's social profile audience approaches 344 thousand (Internal Source);
  • the decrease in circulation revenue of Corporate and Other Activities by € -3.3 million, referring mainly to m-dis Distribuzione Media, for its distribution activities of third-party publishers.

8

Advertising revenue by business area is shown below:

(€ millions)

Advertising revenue

30/09/2024

30/09/2023

Change

% Change

Newspapers Italy

84.7

86.5

(1.8)

(2.1%)

Magazines Italy

21.0

21.3

(0.3)

(1.4%)

Advertising and Sport

160.4

158.2

2.2

1.4%

Unidad Editorial

73.9

78.6

(4.7)

(6.0%)

Other and eliminations

(102.9)

(104.9)

2.0

n.s.

Total Advertising Revenue

237.1

239.7

(2.6)

(1.1%)

Advertising revenue in first nine months 2024 amounted to € 237.1 million (€ 239.7 million in the same period of 2023).

Total advertising sales on online media amounted to € 98 million in first nine months 2024, reaching approximately 41.3% of total advertising revenue.

Sundry revenue by business area is shown below:

(€ millions)

Sundry revenue

30/09/2024

30/09/2023

Change

% Change

Newspapers Italy

20.4

17.0

3.4

20.0%

Magazines Italy

6.4

6.5

(0.1)

(1.5%)

Advertising and Sport

52.8

49.8

3.0

6.0%

Unidad Editorial

28.5

29.4

(0.9)

(3.1%)

Corporate and Other Activities

42.9

44.7

(1.8)

(4.0%)

Other and eliminations

(28.5)

(29.8)

1.3

n.s.

Total Sundry Revenue (1)

122.5

117.6

4.9

4.2%

  1. Sundry revenue from add-ons at 30 September 2024 totaled € 1.6 million, attributable for € 1.4 million to Newspapers Italy and for € 0.2 million to Unidad Editorial. At 30 September 2023, the figure had amounted to € 2.7 million, of which € 2.4 million from Newspapers Italy and € 0.3 million from Unidad Editorial.

Sundry revenue closed at € 122.5 million, increasing by € 4.9 million versus first nine months 2023 (€ 117.6 million). In the comparable period of 2023, Unidad Editorial's sundry revenue included non-recurring income of € 1.6 million.

The eliminations refer mainly to sundry revenue from the provision of centralized services carried out by the Corporate and Other Activities area to other Group companies.

***

The RCS Group continued its efforts in 2024 to build up its publishing products on both digital and traditional channels.

Below are some of the main initiatives implemented in Italy in first nine months 2024:

  • on 23 January, the L'Economia channel launched the new digital service "Chiedi all'Esperto", and on 20 February the Salute channel launched the new "Sportello Cancro";
  • La Gazzetta dello Sport and its supplements, G Magazine and Sportweek, followed the major sporting events of the year, from the European Football Championships to the Paris Olympics, with live updates, in-depth coverage, and video content with contributions from correspondents;
  • in early 2024, La Gazzetta dello Sport opened two new social channels: LinkedIn and YouTube;
  • in early March 2024, La Gazzetta dello Sport launched its new app, which offers access to both the site's news and the daily newspaper's browser in digital format;
  • on 14 March, the FAST channel "Talks by Corriere della Sera" was launched on Samsung TV Plus;
  • first nine months 2024 saw the launch of several new podcast series available on both Gazzetta and Corriere della Sera;
  • in first quarter 2024, La Gazzetta dello Sport unveiled a new organization for the cross platform video area (website and social channels);

9

  • new video columns on Corriere TV were produced in the nine months, and new live slots live from Corriere TV studios such as "Super Tuesday verso il voto Usa 2024";
  • April saw the restyling of Sportweek;
  • on 21 April, the weekly newsletter catalogue of Corriere della Sera included "Le idee" by Ferruccio de Bortoli and Daniele Manca;
  • in May, VISA and Corriere della Sera launched the second edition of "She's Next" to support women's entrepreneurship;
  • on 8 May, the new digital channel Figli & Genitori was launched, and the related App was also released on 17 June;
  • on 5 June, Corriere della Sera celebrated the World Environment Day, with a green paper edition of the newspaper and the first edition of Festival Pianeta 2030;
  • 6 June saw the completion of the redesign of Corriere della Sera's Instagram profile, which reached nearly 1.9 million followers;
  • on 15 June, to mark Italy's first match at Euro 2024, La Gazzetta dello Sport released a collector's issue printed on light blue paper, while the home page of gazzetta.it and the app were also coloured light blue;
  • on 18 June, the new app for L'Economia was launched, featuring highlights such as an artificial intelligence- based virtual assistant (developed together with OpenAI) and browsing customized to user interests;
  • as part of the ongoing development of Gazzetta Motori, the new multi-platform video project "Guida con Noi" was launched in June;
  • in third quarter 2024, the new Salute app was released as a subscription with corriere.it;
  • the first nine months featured the continuation of major events, including Obiettivo5 (7-8 March) focused on gender equality issues, Italia Genera Futuro (11 March), presenting a ranking of the top thousand Italian small and medium-sized enterprises; the Forum Internazionale Pact4Future (25-28 March) held with Bocconi University, from 25 March the first stages of the cycle of meetings Le Economie d'Italia (with the events dedicated to the regions of Lombardy, Apulia, Piedmont, and Lazio), a journey of L'Economia through the small and medium-sized Italian enterprises, the event related to Corriere's birthday "Come cambia l'informazione, dietro le quinte del Corriere", the Premio Bilancio di Sostenibilità (8 April), Women in Food (10-11 April), the installation «Città Miniera: Design, Dismantle, Disseminate» (15-21 April), an event held during Milan Design Week together with the furnishing publications Living and Abitare at the headquarters of Corriere della Sera, Civil Week (9-12 May), Tech Emotion (16-18 May) and "Tech Emotion - Frames: Learnings for future vision" (28-29 May), in June the Milano Football Week, from 6-8 September the first edition of the Barbera Wine Festival, from 12-15 September the eleventh edition of the Il Tempo delle Donne Festival, which garnered over 30 thousand live attendances and over 6.5 million streams online and on social networks, from 20-22 September the third edition of Trento DOC Festival, on 18 September "L'Economia del mare", on 23 September the start of the fifth edition of Campbus;
  • on the series, books and add-ons front in first nine months 2024, La Gazzetta dello Sport published the book "Chiedimi chi era Pantani", the "Milo Manara Collection", the "Pokemon" collection, the "I sentieri della grande guerra" series, the anastatic publications of the "Album calciatori Panini" and the "Il Grande Bleck" strips, the collection of unpublished essays "Terrorismo italiano", the book "Estasi nerazzurra", the series "Due stelle nerazzurre", and the innovative English course "English by Norma's Teaching". Corriere della Sera in first nine months 2024 published "Il futuro della democrazia", "Lenin - La vita e la rivoluzione", "Longevità. Vivere bene per vivere a lungo", "Viaggi brevi - percorsi insoliti", "Giovinezza", "Con l'anima di traverso", "Le sanguisughe di Giulietta. Storie di progresso e contraddizioni della Medicina", "Interstellar", "Il Cubo e io", "Io uccido", "Scienza e Filosofia", "Inchiesta su Gesù" and "Inchiesta sul cristianesimo", "Parigi è sempre Parigi". The series published include the one dedicated to Alessandro Baricco, the reissue of Oriana Fallaci's works, "Pratiche giapponesi per raggiungere la felicità", the one dedicated to the famous couple Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, "Storia del Fascismo", "Amori mitici", "America Oggi", the essays by Alessandro Barbero and a collector's insert dedicated to Inter's 20th Scudetto victory.

10