SRG back in the black thanks to higher fee income
After two years of losses, the Swiss Radio and Television Corporation (SRG) is back in the black. It attributes this, among other things, to higher license fee revenue.
While SRG had reported a minus of 12.9 million francs in the first Corona year 2020, it is now writing a plus of 48.7 million francs for the year 2021, as it announced on Thursday.
This also includes two property sales in Zurich and Geneva, which are not required for operational purposes. Excluding these one-off book gains of CHF 38.4 million, a positive operating result of CHF 10.3 million remains.
"The consistent further implementation of the cost-cutting measures triggered in 2018 has further stabilized SRG's financial situation," the media release states. The increase in the media levy also made a significant contribution. Compared to the previous year, SRG received CHF 1.2 billion in fees - CHF 39.8 million more.
Advertising revenues higher - yet lower
2021 was a "demanding and challenging year," SRG writes. News coverage, which continued to be heavily influenced by the Covid 19 pandemic, recorded very high market shares and reach. This had an impact on the revenue side: The "more attractive programming environment led to higher commercial revenues than in the previous year."
More advertising revenue was also generated in 2021 thanks to the sporting events - including the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the European soccer championships. These had to be postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, and at that time had still put pressure on the annual result.
Despite more advertising revenues in 2021 compared to the previous year: However, the trend continues - overall revenues will decline, writes the SRG. Accordingly, TV advertising revenues of CHF 164.1 million are CHF 14.7 million lower than in 2019.
The company's transformation will therefore continue in the current year. "SRG must continue to adapt to changing market conditions and user habits." This must be done within an "ever tighter financial framework.
After the CHF 100 million savings program launched in 2018 was completed in 2020, the SRG said that due to the downward trend in commercial revenues, it launched an additional savings program of CHF 50 million by 2024 in October 2020, which will continue to be implemented consistently. (SDA)
