Tell me where the millions are
Tamedia: The Zurich-based media group's digital media divisions have seen a jump in revenue, yet their earnings are still lower than last year.
Tamedia The electronic media of the Zurich media group make a jump in sales and yet take in less than in the previous year. The development of electronic media is the only bright spot in Tamedia's provisional sales figures - they show a jump in growth of 104 percent. Due to the consolidation of the Belcom Group and the acquisition of Radio Basilisk, sales rose from 13 to 26 million francs.The only confusion is that the 2001 annual report recorded sales of 27.6 million francs for the electronic media. Where did the difference of 14.6 million francs disappear to? And has sales therefore ultimately fallen?
Accounting transfers
Regula Tschopp, Head of Investor Relations (IR) at Tamedia, solves the mystery: The production company Condor Communications is now listed in the Services division, she explained in response to an inquiry from Werbewoche. As part of a reorganization last summer, company head Martin Kall reorganized the business activities into four divisions: Newspapers, Magazines, Electronic Media and Services, whereas the print media had previously been grouped together. In the process, he said, certain regroupings had been made, including Condor.
If Condor had remained in electronic media, the increase there for 2002 would have been only about 45 percent. The 2001 Services revenue was increased by the reorganization from 81.2 million to 100 million francs. The now narrow increase (by 1 percent) to 101 million Swiss francs would represent a plus of around 24 percent compared with the amount previously reported.
The difference is not exclusively explained by the change of Condor. The production company's sales are likely to be around 15 million Swiss francs this year as well. Regula Tschopp did not want to give any figures. However, she noted that Condor had generally not developed badly and was not one of the "problem children".
Tamedia spokeswoman Franziska Hügli explained that the reorganization of the business units had led to further shifts, which also affected the sales figures and made them comparable with those of the previous year only to a limited extent. "I wouldn't get into such detailed calculations," she warned Werbewoche. She referred to the annual press conference on March 19.
The Group's total operating revenues remain readily comparable. Tamedia generated CHF 639 million in 2002, a decline of 15 percent. The year before, sales had already shrunk by 8 percent. The most unpleasant development was in the Newspaper division, where sales were down 22 percent. On the stock exchange, the poor development apparently no longer surprised anyone: Tamedia's share price even rose by 1.6 percent to 61.50 francs on the day of the announcement.
The decline is also not expected to have any further consequences for the Group itself. Head of IR Tschopp explained that Tamedia had set the course early on with the "Focus" efficiency program of 2001. Last fall, another 28 jobs were cut in the back office, in publishing and in technology. According to Tschopp, these cost-cutting measures should be sufficient. Tamedia is assuming that economic development will remain poor, with a further 15 percent reduction in job advertisements. The consequences of a possible war against Iraq have not been taken into account.
Tamedia shares are worth only a quarter of the issue price Tamedia shares went public at CHF 260 in October 2000. Nothing is left of the price fantasies surrounding the media industry. In mid-February, the share price of the former family-owned company fell below 60 francs for the first time. A development that is likely to cause headaches for Chairman of the Board Hans Heinrich Coninx.
The family's buyback of the shares could be a remedy. At any rate, the NZZ has heard in market circles that Tamedia is planning to go private in its third year on the stock market.
Hans Heinrich Coninx: Concerns about share price.
Stefano Monachesi
Accounting transfers
Regula Tschopp, Head of Investor Relations (IR) at Tamedia, solves the mystery: The production company Condor Communications is now listed in the Services division, she explained in response to an inquiry from Werbewoche. As part of a reorganization last summer, company head Martin Kall reorganized the business activities into four divisions: Newspapers, Magazines, Electronic Media and Services, whereas the print media had previously been grouped together. In the process, he said, certain regroupings had been made, including Condor.
If Condor had remained in electronic media, the increase there for 2002 would have been only about 45 percent. The 2001 Services revenue was increased by the reorganization from 81.2 million to 100 million francs. The now narrow increase (by 1 percent) to 101 million Swiss francs would represent a plus of around 24 percent compared with the amount previously reported.
The difference is not exclusively explained by the change of Condor. The production company's sales are likely to be around 15 million Swiss francs this year as well. Regula Tschopp did not want to give any figures. However, she noted that Condor had generally not developed badly and was not one of the "problem children".
Tamedia spokeswoman Franziska Hügli explained that the reorganization of the business units had led to further shifts, which also affected the sales figures and made them comparable with those of the previous year only to a limited extent. "I wouldn't get into such detailed calculations," she warned Werbewoche. She referred to the annual press conference on March 19.
The Group's total operating revenues remain readily comparable. Tamedia generated CHF 639 million in 2002, a decline of 15 percent. The year before, sales had already shrunk by 8 percent. The most unpleasant development was in the Newspaper division, where sales were down 22 percent. On the stock exchange, the poor development apparently no longer surprised anyone: Tamedia's share price even rose by 1.6 percent to 61.50 francs on the day of the announcement.
The decline is also not expected to have any further consequences for the Group itself. Head of IR Tschopp explained that Tamedia had set the course early on with the "Focus" efficiency program of 2001. Last fall, another 28 jobs were cut in the back office, in publishing and in technology. According to Tschopp, these cost-cutting measures should be sufficient. Tamedia is assuming that economic development will remain poor, with a further 15 percent reduction in job advertisements. The consequences of a possible war against Iraq have not been taken into account.
Tamedia shares are worth only a quarter of the issue price Tamedia shares went public at CHF 260 in October 2000. Nothing is left of the price fantasies surrounding the media industry. In mid-February, the share price of the former family-owned company fell below 60 francs for the first time. A development that is likely to cause headaches for Chairman of the Board Hans Heinrich Coninx.
The family's buyback of the shares could be a remedy. At any rate, the NZZ has heard in market circles that Tamedia is planning to go private in its third year on the stock market.
Hans Heinrich Coninx: Concerns about share price.
Stefano Monachesi
