Super-indie’s profits rose nearly 16% as content revenues hit £1.2bn
Stronger ties with streamers, scripted series deliveries and local adaptations of non-scripted programmes helped Banijay to grow profits by 15.8% in H1, to touch half a billion Euros.
The French giant’s EBITDA hit €424m (£366.7m), up from £317.8m in 2024. Net income grew 8.1% to €206.2m (£178.3m).
Group revenues were up 6.1% (when accounting for foreign exchange fluctuations) to €2.2bn (£1.9bn) from €2.09bn last year (£1.8bn), largely thanks to a 1.6% increase in production revenues to €1.1bn (£951m) in the first half of 2025.
Overall, Banijay Entertainment revenues – spanning production, distribution and live events – reached €1.43bn (£1.23bn), up 3% from €1.39bn (£1.20bn).
Banijay attributed its performance to “further penetration” with global SVoDs, increasing its share of production and distribution revenue from streamers from 17% in H1 2024 to 20% this year.
The super-indie name-checked the delivery of scripted returners Grantchester (ITV), Sueños de Libertad (Antena 3), The Buccaneers (Apple TV+) and El Jardinero (Netflix) as contributors to this growth.
New iterations and additions to Banijay’s non-scripted portfolio, such as the UK adaptation of Amazon Prime Video’s global franchise Last One Laughing and the streamer’s order of a German version of The Summit, as well as Netflix competition format Building the Band, were all highlighted as successes in H1 2025.
Banijay’s content distribution remained broadly flat at €149m (£128.9m), up 0.6% on last year’s €147.6m (£127.1m). This was driven by format sales from “superbrands”, such as Survivor, MasterChef and Big Brother, as well as sales of scripted shows such as The Office and Peaky Blinders.
Banijay Entertainment chief exec Marco Bassetti, said: “Banijay Entertainment, with Banijay Live, continues to illustrate a robust business model, as demonstrated by these latest H1 results.
“Year-on-year, we have significantly increased our activities with streamers, maintained significant investment in creativity to bolster our competitive market advantage, and accelerated our digital transformation efforts.
“The latter will rapidly unlock greater efficiencies, further amplify the value of our catalogue, and enhance our presence on YouTube specifically. In embracing new technologies and diversifying our revenue streams in areas like sport too, we continue to prepare the group for the future, cementing our house as the number one for talent, IP, and creative innovation.”
François Riahi, chief executive of Banijay Group, echoed his views, noting that 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”.
Riahi also spotlighted the successes of the group’s live experiences, such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the FIFA Club World Cup, to this growth.
“We once again delivered excellent performance in the first half of 2025, with over 15% earnings growth and a significant contribution from all activities,” he said.
“In live experiences, a key driver of growth, we demonstrated our leadership in major sport ceremony production, delivering both the UEFA Champions League final kick off show and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Club World Cup held in the US.
“The rollout of immersive live experiences across our network and the further expansion of [global marketing and communications group] The Independents will be key drivers of development and creativity going forward.
“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.”
Banijay said its guidance for H2 on content production, distribution and live experiences will see an expected mid-single digit growth, driven by streamer business, a healthy production pipeline for delivering in the second half, alongside finished tape and formats sales. The main drive in live experiences is anticipated to be the delivery of major events and the roll-out of live experiences across the group’s global footprint.
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