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RTL sees flat 2001
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March 21, 2001: 6:20 a.m. ET
Europe's No. 1 free-to-air broadcaster pretax profit drops by half to $263M
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LONDON (CNN) - RTL, Europe's largest free-to-air broadcaster, said on Wednesday 2000 pretax profits halved and forecast little change in 2001 profit.
The broadcaster, which was created last year from the television interests of Germany's Bertelsmann, the UK's Pearson and Belgian-owned Audiofina, said pretax profits fell 49 percent to  293 million ($263 million).
 RTL, which screens the German versions of programmes such as Who wants to Be a Millionaire and Big Brother, said revenue increased 14.3 percent to 4.04 billion.
"Combined with the effects of restructuring Pearson Television North America and a decrease in the audience of RTL Radio in France, market conditions at present lead us to expect a comparatively flat earnings performance in 2001," Didier Bellens, chief executive, said in statement.
RTL (RTL) shares, about 10 percent of which are publicly traded, plunged 27 percent in London to 62 pence after the results were announced.
Earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation (EBITA) rose 29 percent to 555 million from 429 million in the previous year. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast earnings of between 558 and 586 million, but compared with a previous 408 million. EBITA is a measure of a company's underlying profitability, excluding exceptional gains or losses.
Net income dropped more than 60 percent to 67 million, from 170 million in the previous year. The figure for 1999 included one-off proceeds raised from the sale of its Premiere television unit.
The figures were calculated as if RTL had already been operating as a merged company in 2000 and 1999.
RTL Television, the RTL flagship channel in Germany, continued to pull big audiences, the company said, with the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix attracting a record total of 14 million viewers.
Shares in Pearson (PSON), which has a 22 percent stake in RTL, fell 2.7 percent to 1,306 pence. 
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