Moderately loyal ex-Cash subscribers

 
A good third of ex-Cash subscribers remain loyal to HandelsZeitung As of July 1, 2007, HandelsZeitung had 18,210 paid and Wemf-certified subscriptions. But if all goes well, it will probably have around 29,000 paying subscribers this summer - an increase of around 30 percent. The reason for the sudden and yet probable increase is the subscription base that HandelsZeitung took over from Ringier's Cash eight months ago. After the end of Cash, 27,000 of 43,000 subscribers chose HandelsZeitung as a replacement. Now that the majority of these HZ subscriptions are up for renewal, Ralph Büchi, CEO of Axel Springer Switzerland, can draw an initial interim balance. "A good third of the ex-Cash subscribers are definitely converting", he announces in writing. This means that HandelsZeitung is likely to have around 10,000 additional subscribers - provided that the vast majority of existing HZ subscribers also renew their subscriptions. A further 5,000 former Cash subscribers chose a Bilanz subscription as a replacement, while 2,000 preferred Stocks. "The conversion figures for Bilanz and Stocks are also between 30 and 40 percent," writes Büchi. This means that on July 1, 2008, Bilanz is likely to have around 30,000 subscriptions and Stocks around 18,000.
The figures are "in line with our ambitious expectations", explains Büchi. Nevertheless, there is probably a slight hint of disappointment. Last summer, Büchi told Persoenlich.com that he still hoped to achieve 50 percent
of former Cash subscribers would renew their subscription - as was the case in 2002 when the Swiss family took over the Meyer's subscription base.     
Markus Knöpfli