Ringier moves forward digitally - 2015 marked by change

The Group's turnover fell by 4.3 percent to CHF 946 million. This was partly due to currency conversions - Ringier is present in numerous countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. The Group also recently commenced activities in Myanmar. In return, Ringier sold its businesses in the Czech Republic, which it held together with Axel Springer. These revenues are now missing. Instead, Ringier was able to use the money from the sales to afford new things, in particular the expansion of its digital offerings. In addition to radio and TV investments, the Group owns around 160 digital platforms and more than 70 mobile applications. Ringier has expanded the Scout24 online marketplaces, for example. Ringier also owns e-commerce markets such as MyStore.ch, Deindeal.ch and Geschenkidee.ch. The digital offering that Ringier began to develop years ago is much more a necessity than a gimmick. "If you can't deal with the new realities, you have no future," publisher Michael Ringier told journalists on Wednesday. In recent years, Ringier has been able to steadily increase the share of revenue from digital business, which now accounts for more than a third. Around 61 percent of operating profit now comes from the digital business, compared to just under 50 percent in the previous year.

Among the best are

According to Ringier, this already makes it one of the top players in Europe today. And Ringier wants to be one of the industry giants even more tomorrow - thanks to digitalization and diversification, i.e. new products in new markets. Ringier has invested CHF 1.7 billion in the transformation in recent years. "The digital world is brutal," said Group CEO Marc Walder. According to the principle of "the winner takes it all", you have to be among the best in the digital business. That is expensive. The bottom line for Ringier in 2015 was a profit of just CHF 11.3 million. In the previous year, it was almost twice as much. This is very modest and intentional, said Michael Ringier.

Rapid amortization policy

However, operating profit excluding depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) rose by 16.8% to CHF 96.1 million. The company does not disclose details of depreciation and amortization. A "rapid depreciation policy" is being pursued, said Michael Ringier. As befits a family business, the financing policy is conservative and the level of debt is correspondingly low. He made no secret of the fact that the core business, i.e. newspapers and magazines, also suffered losses this year. Ringier does not disclose sales figures for the individual newspapers and magazines. With almost 600,000 readers, Blick is still one of the most widely read paid newspapers in Switzerland.

Advertising alliance founded

According to Ringier, the Landliebe magazine also shows that the business with tradition is not completely outdated. It is a "success story" that proves that "the world is not black or white". According to Marc Walder, Landliebe is an example of how a magazine can also be successful if it manages to convey an attitude to life. In contrast, he called digital platforms "information storms". Ringier also mentioned the joint venture with Axel Springer in the magazine sector and the Admeira advertising alliance as milestones of the year. Ringier founded Admeira together with the telecom giant Swisscom and SRG in order to increase its marketing activities. Other companies will join in by the end of the year. There are interested parties, but publisher Ringier did not provide details on request. (SDA)