Edipresse publishing house quadruples profit
Edipresse, a publishing house based in western Switzerland that owns the newspapers 24 Heure, La Tribune de Genève, and Le Matin, posted a profit of 40.3 million francs in 2005.
The French-speaking Swiss publishing house Edipresse, which owns the newspapers 24 Heure, La Tribune de Genève and Le Matin, generated a profit of CHF 40.3 million in 2005. Compared to the previous year's result of 10.4 million, Edipresse has almost quadrupled its profit. With sales of 894.4 million (previous year 844.7 million), Edipresse achieved an operating result of 85.7 million (+ 7.9 percent) in 2005 compared to 79.4 million francs in the previous year. Edipresse CEO Tibère Adler told the SDA news agency that he was satisfied with the result, although profitability was not yet where it should be. Edipresse owes the jump in profits in 2005 above all to the good result abroad, especially the growth in Eastern Europe. In Switzerland, the magazine segment grew by 17.3 percent to CHF 410 million, while newspapers declined (-0.7% to 354 million). According to Alder, the Swiss regional press is "under pressure". However, the title "24 heures" has returned to the growth path and the free newspaper "Matin Bleu" has exceeded all expectations - despite the Tamedia competitor product "20 minutes". In view of the tougher competition, Edipresse is expecting less growth in daily newspapers in 2006. Additional savings will be necessary, but the company did not disclose exact details.
