Banijay posts H1 earnings growth, company on track to meet full-year guidance
European production and distribution giant Banijay Group achieved good growth in earnings and revenue in the first half of 2025, with growth reported across all areas of the business.
In the six months to the end of June, Banijay’s earnings before tax shot up to €157m (US$179.2m) from €57.8m in the first half of 2024, boosted by lower restructuring costs and other non-recurring items, a reduction in expenses related to the company’s long-term incentive plan and 5.6% growth in revenue to €2.09bn from €2.21bn.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which excludes items that don’t affect underlying performance such as restructuring or legal costs, grew by almost 16% to €424.3m from €367.5m.
By business area, the content production, distribution and live experiences division experienced growth in revenue of 2.1% year-on-year to €1.42bn from €1.39bn.
Within that, production revenue rose by 0.6% to €1.10bn, driven by deeper penetration with the global streamers, major scripted deliveries and the continued roll-out of unscripted shows through new local adaptations. Scripted highlights included season 10 of Grantchester for ITV, S2 of The Buccaneers for Apple TV+ and S7 of Black Mirror on Netflix.
Distribution revenue increased by 1% in the first half of the year to €149m, mainly driven by format sales from superbrands such as Survivor, MasterChef and Big Brother. That’s despite the UK version MasterChef being mired in controversy after allegations against presenters Greg Wallace and John Torode and criticism of Banijay’s response to this from producer union Bectu.
Finished tapes also performed well, including sales of Grantchester, The Office and Peaky Blinders.
During the period, Banijay increased its share of production and distribution revenue coming from global streaming platforms to 20% from 17% year-on-year.
Live experiences revenue grew by almost 15% to €173m in the first half of the year, boosted by the production of major sports ceremonies including the UEFA Champions League 2025 Final Kick Off Show in Munich, the acquisition of live experiences producer Lotchi and the international roll-out of its Luminiscence show.
The online sports betting and gaming division, meanwhile, saw growth of more than 12% year-on-year to €784.8m from €697.6m.
Banijay said it was on track to meet its full-year guidance, with mid-single-digit growth in revenue expected in content production, distribution and live experiences, and mid-teens growth in revenue expected in online sports betting and gaming.
Organic adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to rise by mid-to-high single digits, despite taking an estimated €20m hit from the tax increases to online gaming activities in France from July 1.
François Riahi, CEO of Banijay Group, said: “In content production and distribution, solid revenue growth came from scaling our high-performing IP with global streaming platforms, and further building on our leading position as the number one studio for global format launches, and the number one European studio for high-quality scripted entertainment. The second half of the year will be stronger, as usual given the seasonality.
“We are on track to deliver our 2025 guidance and have started our new three-year strategic plan period on the right foot as we strive to build an unrivalled content powerhouse in the entertainment industry.”
In related news, Banijay has injected DKK95m (US$15m) into its Nordic holding company, Banijay Nordic, according to the Danish business register. Jacob Houlind, Nordic CEO at Banijay, confirmed to MediaWatch.dk the capital injection was made to strengthen the group’s three Norwegian companies.
