Gazprom-Media Holding’s operating profit quadruples to 6.9 billion rubles in the first nine months of 2021

On November 26, Gazprombank published its financial results for the period of January-September 2021. Key indicators for Gazprom-Media Holding were presented in the Media-Business segment. They cover the first nine months of 2021 and the year’s third quarter, and offer comparisons to the same periods in 2020.

Key financial indicators for January-September 2021: 

●    Consolidated revenues of the Media-Business segment grew by 29% and added up to 84.2 billion rubles. This growth is attributed to an increase in Gazprom-Media Holding’s advertising revenues and revenues from the sale of rights to audio-video reproduction. 

●    Advertising revenues increased by 30% and added up to 61.4 billion rubles. At the same time, the Russian advertising market grew by 25% in the first nine months of 2021, according to the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (AKAR). In this way, Gazprom-Media Holding showed above-market growth in this sector. Gazprom-Media’s on-air TV channels, Red Media’s special-interest channels and GPM Match sports channels make a significant contribution to the growth of advertising revenues in the Media-Business segment. At the same time, the growing sales of advertising in the digital sphere are also starting to have a positive effect on overall advertising revenues. Advertising sales in the digital sphere increased 2.5 times, as compared to 2020.

The growth in advertising revenues can also be attributed to the recovery of the advertising market and the return of sporting competitions (Euro 2020, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games), which were postponed or cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The successful launch of several premieres and projects of the new television season on the Holding’s TV channels at the end of the third quarter also had a positive effect on advertising revenues.

●    Revenues from the sale of rights to audio-video reproduction grew by 35% and added up to 12.9 billion rubles. This growth is attributed to an increase in revenues from the distribution of special-interest channels and income from the distribution of content in the digital sphere. The partial recovery of film distribution, which was limited in 2020 due to the pandemic, also had a positive effect on the growth seen in this sales category. 

●    Operating profit of the Media-Business segment quadrupled and added up to 6.9 billion rubles. The net profit was 5.3 billion rubles, as compared to a loss of 120 million rubles in the same period in 2020. 

These positive operating and financial results are attributed to the outstripping growth in advertising revenues, the overall recovery of the advertising market, as well as the effective management of consolidated expenses, which grew at a lower rate than the Holding’s revenues.   

Key financial indicators for July-September 2021: 

●    Consolidated revenues grew by 20.6% and added up to 27.3 billion rubles. 

●    Advertising revenues grew by 24% and added up to 20.6 billion rubles due to an increase in advertising revenues on the Holding’s on-air and special-interest channels. 

●    Revenues from the sale of rights to audio-video reproduction grew by 38% and added up to 3.2 billion rubles. The increase in revenues from the distribution of special-interest channels and the distribution of content in the digital sphere were the main growth factors. 

●    Operating profit added up to 871 million rubles. The net loss was 326 million rubles and is attributed to increased spending on program rights and content that was shown on the Holding’s entertainment channels. During the reporting period, the Holding’s TV channels aired more premieres than in the same period in 2020.