"This annual report is a joke"

At Friday's press conference, Ringier presented its business figures and its eighth annual report for 2005, which was designed by an artist. Richard Price, the artist, has turned typical 1970s Playboy-style jokes into art, according to publisher Michael Ringier. According to the publisher, jokes always say something about society, most of them are embarrassing. With the keyword "innovative", he then hands over to Group CEO Martin Werfeli, who is allowed to use the same opening sentence as last year: "It was once again the best year in Ringier's history. Group profit grew by over 20 percent to CHF 67.1 million, while sales increased by almost 13 percent to CHF 1,256.3 million. Ringier grew strongly abroad in 2005, especially in Eastern and Central Europe. 19 new titles were launched in 8 countries. Ringier successfully entered the free newspaper market in Prague in 2005. In the television sector, China was conquered in 2005: Joya is now also running in the Far East and Betty's Kitchen is running successfully on Dragon TV. Following the launch of a channel in Romania, further expansions are planned in Eastern Europe, and another Eastern European country is on Ringier's agenda for 2006. According to Werfeli, Ringier's strategy of creating so-called "media networks" has proved very successful - the future belongs to them. The concept of the health platform media network proved successful last year. Ringier TV was able to further expand its position as the leading private television producer in Switzerland with revenue growth of 16.8 percent.