"Further cost-cutting measures not ruled out"

Although two or three titles in China have been loss-making, Ringier is profitable in China, says Ringer CEO Christian Unger in an interview with Bilanz magazine. However, he added, Switzerland will continue to play an essential role - in the longer term, the company is aiming for a three-way split of total revenues: one-third from the core publishing business in Switzerland, one-third from Swiss and international activities from the digital sector, entertainment and the new markets or with new models such as ticketing, events or radio - and one-third from the Eastern Europe joint venture with Axel Springer.

Ringier is clearly a modern media group, Unger answers the question of whether the company is now an entertainment or a media group. The discussion about Ringier's role is only being held in Switzerland because the strategy is new for Switzerland. There are three pillars: publishing business, digital activities and entertainment. Asked whether he sees no danger of conflicts of interest, Unger says it's primarily a matter of "playing our value chain intelligently and offering our users the greatest possible added value across all our channels and services." But clear demarcations are also needed, for example, journalistic independence is a key asset that is very important to Ringier.

"More full-cream journalism"

In the last three months, Blick has reported 25 times on the hit duo Florian Ast and Francine Jordi, the tabloid simultaneously acts as their concert sponsor, and the Ringier subsidiary Ticketcorner sells the concert tickets. Bilanz wants to know whether this does not harbor any conflicts of interest. Unger replies that this is a good example of the value chain. But the individual companies mentioned would work decentrally, and the editorial staff would decide autonomously which topics they would include and how often.

Bilanz asks whether the goal set by Michael Ringier of becoming more political and less German has been achieved. Michael Ringier literally demanded "more full-frame journalism," says Unger. This has happened. Business reporting, for example, is a good example: Every day, there would be "excellently researched articles" on a double-page spread, in which business topics would be taken up "in a generally understandable way, but at a high level. And they also want to improve on the subject of politics: The aim is to explain the processes and issues of politics to people in a simple but exciting way and also to look behind the scenes.

Further cost-cutting measures not ruled out

Ringier has cut costs by around CHF 100 million in the last three years. When asked about further savings potential, Unger says that the company is looking very closely at the possibilities. The aim is to continue to improve the result, and further cost reductions will also be made. But they are also clearly aiming for growth.

In the Swissprinters area, Ringier is cutting staff and concentrating sites. Unger fears that the print shop could lose further orders due to the strength of the Swiss franc. He cannot rule out further measures - he expects 2012 to be a "challenging year" for Ringier overall.

Read the whole interview in Bilanz issue 03/2012 or here.

(Photo: Keystone)