Another record quarter for Ströer: Digital OOH advertising grows by 27% and free cash flow by around EUR 100m in first nine months

Consolidated revenue rises by more than 8% from EUR 1.35b to EUR 1.46b in nine-month period / Earnings increase at an even faster rate: EBITDA (adjusted) up by 12% and EBIT (adjusted) by 22% / Free cash flow advances by around EUR 100m compared with 9M 2023 / Successful acquisition of RBL Media adds attractive city contracts to the out-of-home portfolio

Ströer SE & Co. KGaA has published its figures for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2024. The Company’s excellent performance in the first half of the year continued in the penultimate quarter. Once again, Ströer set records in its most important key performance indicators of revenue and EBITDA (adjusted). Ströer increased its consolidated revenue by more than 8% (organic growth: 8%) in the first three quarters of the year, from EUR 1.35b to EUR 1.46b. EBITDA (adjusted) grew at a faster rate than revenue, improving by 12% from EUR 375m to EUR 420m and thereby notching up another record. EBIT (adjusted) rose even more strongly, advancing by 22% from EUR 158m to EUR 192m.

The positive developments in the out-of-home (OOH) advertising segment in the third quarter reflect the ongoing evolution of the media mix in Germany. In light of a ‘re-rating’ of advertising channels that has led to a shift toward out-of-home advertising, the OOH segment’s revenue grew by around 10% in organic terms (reported: 9%) to EUR 237m in the third quarter. Digital out-of-home advertising rose by 24% to around EUR 93m (Q3 2023: EUR 75m) and was thus the biggest driver of growth. The revenue share contributed by DOOH activities in Ströer’s core business (excluding OOH Services) in the third quarter rose to a record level of around 42% (Q3 2023: 38%).

In the medium term, Ströer expects DOOH to account for at least 50% of segment revenue. These figures show clearly that national customers, in particular, are expecting 2 the targeted expansion of Ströer’s high-reach digital portfolio to continue and, following an up-rating of digital out-of-home advertising in their media mix, are adjusting their advertising budgets in favor of the media channel with the most flexibility and reach, i.e. DOOH. This upward trend is reflected even more distinctly in the figures for the first nine months of 2024, during which DOOH swelled by around 27% to EUR 242m and the OOH advertising business as a whole advanced by 15% to EUR 661m.

On the back of this excellent performance, EBITDA (adjusted) increased substantially. It went up by around 14% to EUR 115m (Q3 2023: EUR 102m) in the third quarter and by 22% to EUR 306m in the first nine months of 2024 (9M 2023: EUR 252m).

Ströer’s successful acquisition of RBL Media, the third-largest provider of street furniture in Germany, has made a decisive contribution to the consolidation of the German out-ofhome advertising market and considerably improved Ströer’s position in the City Light Poster business. RBL Media’s portfolio comprises attractive city contracts that complement Ströer’s current offering and represent great digitalization potential for the future. In the medium term, the Company expects the RBL acquisition to make a positive contribution to earnings of around EUR 17m.

“Sustained revenue growth of more than 20% in our digital out-of-home advertising business shows clearly that customers are continuing to adjust their advertising budgets in favor of our high-reach digital portfolio. This is also evident in our earnings performance, with record levels of revenue, EBITDA (adjusted), and EBIT (adjusted). Most of all, however, our free cash flow – which grew by almost EUR 100m – shows that we have positioned the Company optimally. We believe that the advertising market is only at the beginning of a period of long-term change that will be positive for out-of-home advertising. We are set to benefit more than most from this trend thanks to the strategic direction of our business. At the same time, we are delighted that we were able to complete our acquisition of RBL Media, which is of key strategic importance to us,” says Christian Schmalzl, Co-CEO of Ströer. “Against this backdrop, we believe that our out-of-home advertising business will grow by a high single-digit percentage in the fourth quarter, driven by strong DOOH activities. The Digital & Dialog Media segment should achieve mid-single-digit percentage growth and our third segment, DaaS & E-Commerce, is expected to advance more rapidly thanks to Statista. All in all, therefore, we are confident about the remaining weeks of 2024.”

OOH Media

The revenue of the OOH Media segment rose by 10% in organic terms (reported: 9%) in the third quarter of 2024, from EUR 217m to EUR 237m. Both Classic OOH (3%) and, in particular, Digital OOH (24%) contributed to this revenue growth. The segment’s EBITDA (adjusted) also fared well, increasing from EUR 102m to EUR 115m, while the EBITDA margin (adjusted) improved to 48.8% in the third quarter (Q3 2023: 46.8%).

Digital & Dialog Media

Revenue also rose in the Digital & Dialog Media segment, advancing by 2% to EUR 212m in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023: EUR 208m). The growth in the Digital product group was fueled by buoyant programmatic business. The Dialog product group saw modest organic growth (Q3 2024: up by 0.9%; reported: down by 1.5%) that was driven by the call centers. EBITDA (adjusted) in the third quarter of 2024 came to EUR 37m (Q3 2023: EUR 38m) and the corresponding EBITDA margin (adjusted) was 17.4% (Q3 2023: 18.3%)

DaaS & E-Commerce

The DaaS & E-Commerce segment achieved revenue of EUR 85m in the penultimate quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023: EUR 90m). Adding 13%, Statista stepped up its revenue growth as expected. However, it was unable to make up for the decline in Asam’s wholesale business. Primarily as a result of this effect, EBITDA (adjusted) in the DaaS & ECommerce segment decreased to EUR 11m in the third quarter (Q3 2023: EUR 15m). This brought the segment’s EBITDA margin (adjusted) to 13.2% (Q3 2023: 16.3%).


Disclaimer

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" regarding Ströer SE & Co. KGaA ("Ströer") or the Ströer Group, including assessments, estimates and forecasts regarding the financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management and the future business activities of Ströer or the Ströer Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of operations, profitability, performance or achievements of Ströer or the Ströer Group to be materially different from any future results of operations, profitability, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and are based on numerous assumptions that may also prove to be incorrect. Ströer makes no representation and assumes no liability with respect to the fair presentation, completeness, correctness, adequacy or accuracy of the information and assessments contained herein. The information contained in this press release is subject to change without notice. It may be incomplete or abbreviated and may not contain all material information relating to Ströer or the Ströer Group. Ströer does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, neither as a result of new information, future events nor otherwise.