A milestone: prosiebensat.1 launches streaming platform

Finance

Prosiebensat.1 boss max conze has asked hard-pressed shareholders for patience as he restructures the group.

At the annual general meeting in munich, he also announced a first tangible result for next tuesday: the free streaming platform joyn will then be launched with a good 50 stations, including ARD and ZDF. This enabled viewers to "watch german TV bundled in one app," said conze. In two years, he wants to reach ten million viewers and compensate for the decline in advertising revenues on traditional television.

Prosiebensat wants to compete with paid US streaming services such as netflix or amazon prime.1 also counter with more self-produced films and live shows. Shareholders will finance the necessary investments by foregoing the dividend, which will be cut by around 40 percent compared to the previous year. That’s steep, but okay, said shareholder representatives. For it is "much more important that the company now gets its act together and invests," said daniela begdolt of the schutzvereinigung fur wertpapierbesitz (DSW).

Because prosiebensat.1 suffers like other tv stations from slump in advertising revenues. Instead of watching TV, many viewers prefer to surf the internet or migrate to netflix or other service providers. According to market researcher gfk, around 23 million germans now use paid streaming services.

Conze, who a year ago joined prosiebensat.1 came, ladenhuter cleaned out US series and began to invest heavily in neglected programming. Together with RTL, it has just created a platform that links television and the internet and enables advertisers to target their advertising much more precisely. This should soon bring in an additional 400 million euros in revenue. He expects as much as two billion euros in revenue from 2023 from the online businesses of parship, verivox and co.

The restructuring is urgently needed – the share price has fallen further since conze took office from 25 to 15 euros. A good three years ago, it even stood at 50 euros. "We are all aware that they are dissatisfied. And rightly so," conze told the shareholders.

But shareholder representatives were upset about something else: the board members. Halving the stock’s value and then increasing the executive board’s holdings by 60 percent seems like "sheer madness," said elisa haralampides of the schutzgemeinschaft der kapitalanleger (sdk). In view of the current state of the company, a three-million-euro start-up premium for conze is "incomprehensible" in any case.

Former deutsche borse supervisory board member johannes witt said as a private shareholder of prosiebensat.1, although earnings, dividends and the share price are falling, conze received 5.5 million euros in the first seven months of his tenure. The annual salary of conze’s deputy conrad albert has been doubled to 3.7 million euros. DSW expert bergdolt emphasized that conze is focusing on the right developments. But prosiebensat.1 buys its qualities "perhaps a bit too expensive".

What the surprising entry of the italian group mediaset means for the future of prosiebensat.1 means remains unclear. Albert stressed that at 9.6 percent, the television group of former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi is not yet a coarse shareholder. The italians were already talking about a european television alliance under their leadership – conze, on the other hand, sees no logic in industrial cooperation. On wednesday, however, he called the entry just a vote of confidence in his strategy. Whether he is already learning italian, he loves openly.

Mediaset is smaller than prosiebensat.1 and could certainly profit. For prosiebensat.1 is "the fastest growing, most innovative and broadest based group of broadcasters," explained daniel kerven of investment bank J.P. Morgan in a study.

Conze asked the shareholders to trust him. The race requires perseverance and is not yet won: "but it is progressing."

June 13, 2023 by 0Comments
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Previously, the "handelsblatt" and the "spiegel" had reported on the appointment. The appointment still has to be finally decided by the cabinet. This is expected to happen this wednesday, said a government spokesman. Nagel is to take office on 1. January to start work.

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Weidmann had announced in october that he would leave office on 31 december after more than ten years in office. December resignation for personal reasons. Nagel, who is a member of the SPD, was already a member of the bundesbank’s executive board from 2010 to 2016, after which he moved to forderbank k and currently works at the bank for international settlements (BIS), which is also known as the central bank of central banks. He studied economics in his native city of karlsruhe and earned his doctorate at the university there.

Lindner stressed that in view of inflation risks, the importance of a stability-oriented monetary policy is currently growing. Nagel is "an experienced person who will ensure the continuity of the bundesbank". Nagel stands for monetary policy stability, the appointment is a "good signal to the german people as well as to europe.

Banking associations and economists welcomed nagel’s nomination. This means that "an expert with many years of experience in central banking and an excellent knowledge of the financial markets will be at the helm of the german central bank," said the president of the federal association of german banks (bdb), deutsche bank CEO christian sewing. Savings bank president helmut schleweis is convinced that with nagel at the helm, the bundesbank will "continue its tradition of a stability-oriented monetary policy.

Bavaria’s finance minister albert furacker (CSU) also called on nagel to continue the bundesbank’s stability-oriented course. "I am also counting on the new bundesbank president-designate to resolutely counter the misguided developments of the ultra-loose monetary policy in the euro area," he said. The european central bank (ECB) is increasingly softening the boundaries between monetary and fiscal policy; crude purchases of government bonds had to stop.

Weidmann, former economic advisor to long-serving chancellor angela merkel, also repeatedly voiced criticism of the ECB’s ultra-loose monetary policy that has been in place for years. He was especially skeptical about the billions of dollars in bond purchases and warned that the central bank should not make governments dependent on cheap central bank money.

In view of rising inflation, weidmann warned that europe’s guardians should not ignore the risk of too high inflation and should not stick to their very expansionary course for too long. Weidmann’s stance has often not prevailed. Because the supporters of a rather loose monetary policy have the majority in the ECB’s governing council.

Although the president of the bundesbank participates in the decisions of the central bank’s highest decision-making body, he has only one vote, as do the representatives of the other 18 euro countries – even though germany is europe’s largest economy.

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The president of the federal association of german volksbanken and raiffeisenbanken (BVR), marija kolak, associates nagel’s appointment among other things with the hope that the bundesbank in the ECB’s governing council "will work for an early end to minus interest rates in the interests of savers".

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May 24, 2023 by 0Comments
Dihk survey: companies more confident
Dihk survey: companies more confident

"2013 has the potential to be a good year for the economy," said martin wansleben, chief executive of the german chamber of industry and commerce (DIHK), in berlin. There the DIHK presented its new economic survey on tuesday.

More than 28,000 companies from the SME sector were surveyed for the study. The proportion of pessimists fell from 22 to 18 percent compared with the fall. Around 62 percent of companies (fall: 60) expect their business to continue as before over the next few months. 20 percent believe sales will improve, up from 18 percent in the fall.

The DIHK confirmed its growth forecast from the fall for the current year of 0.7 percent. The federal government expects only 0.4 percent. 2014 could be much better, business believes. But: "you have to be careful not to shout too early!", said wansleben.

Many investments put on hold in the winter of 2012 are now being made good. Helping the labor market. Employment continues to rise, by an annual average of 150,000 jobs. "The job engine is running smoothly again this year, but at a lower speed," stressed DIHK chief economist alexander schumann.

Companies see high energy and raw material prices as the main threat to the upswing. In the reform of the eco-electricity requirement, the industry therefore wants to aggressively defend its bonus. The exemptions for companies that consume a lot of electricity are an important location factor in competition with the USA. Individual proposals by environment minister peter altmaier (CDU) are correct, but could be supplemented by a moderate reduction or abolition of the electricity tax, wansleben explained.

Confidence grows among exporters as economy in euro crisis countries picks up slightly. 30 percent of industrial companies with strong foreign business now rely on better deals, compared with 27 percent in the fall.

Because almost 40 percent of exports go to the euro countries, the companies are relaxed about the harbingers of a possible "war of truth" between the industrialized nations. "We do not see any direct threat to german exports at the moment," said chief economist schumann. A strong euro relieves the burden on companies when purchasing raw materials and parts from abroad.

From the point of view of the economy, aid worth billions for cyprus should only be given if the small euro country takes consistent action against money laundering and mafia networks. But help is needed because a "tattered europe" is dangerous. Decision on cyprus aid expected in march.

In the case of the banks, the DIHK warned against cutting off the banks’ ability to lend to the economy by imposing overly strict european regulations. "The whole regulation is aimed at making money lending more expensive," said wansleben.

April 10, 2023 by 0Comments
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