Rheintal Medien to be called Galledia Group as of 2019
At the Annual General Meeting of the Eastern Swiss media company, the shareholders clearly approved the name change. Sunnie Groeneveld was also elected as a new member of the Board of Directors without a dissenting vote. She replaces Bruno Baumgartner, who did not stand for re-election.
As of January 1, 2019, Rheintal Medien will become the Galledia Group. The proposed revision of the Articles of Association with the name change has two main objectives, explained Chairman of the Board of Directors Urs Schneider to the shareholders at last Thursday's AGM in Altstätten: "To create a consistent holding structure. A name that expresses the predominantly national focus of the Group as a whole." Those present were able to understand Schneider's arguments without any discussion. The proposal was clearly approved.
The name change will create a clear holding structure. In future, operational activities will only take place at the first organizational level in defined areas of competence. Rheintal Medien and its subsidiaries currently generate three quarters of their turnover of around CHF 48 million outside the main Rhine Valley region.
New member of the Board of Directors
Sunnie Groeneveld was newly elected to the Board of Directors. The 30-year-old succeeds Bruno Baumgartner, who did not stand for re-election after 16 years. Groeneveld is the founder and Managing Partner of Inspire 925, a management consultancy specializing in employee engagement, collaboration and innovation. Groeneveld is responsible for mandates in the areas of innovation and digitalization as well as leadership and employee engagement. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the HHM Group, which specializes in electrical engineering, and the IT company Emineo, as well as Vice President of the Board of Trustees of
Pro Future Fund Switzerland.
"With her strong expertise in the areas of digitalization, transformation and employee development, Sunnie Groeneveld will primarily drive forward the digital strategy in our company and provide new impetus for the further development of the business model," explains CEO Urs Schneider.
With her strong expertise in digitalization, transformation and employee development, Sunnie Groeneveld will primarily drive forward the digital strategy in our company and provide new impetus for the further development of the business model
Group does not quite reach previous year's result
The local newspaper publisher presented an excellent result with the "Rheintaler" and the "Rheintalische Volkszeitung" in 2017. The two established daily newspapers, which are firmly anchored in the region, presented a better result than in the previous year and thus continue to occupy a leading position in the print media market in Switzerland.
Despite the good result of the daily newspapers, the Rheintal Medien Group did not quite match the previous year's result in 2017. At CHF 5.4 million, EBITDA was down 17.5 percent on the previous year, although net income fell by just 2.3 percent. The result was significantly negatively impacted by the subsidiary Galledia, which also hardly lost any sales (-2.4 %), but lost value added due to structural change and price pressure. But even here, EBITDA was still in a satisfactory range, Schneider made clear. Rheintal Medien acquired the Galledia production building in Flawil in 2017. According to Chairman of the Board of Directors Schneider, this significant investment can also be seen as a commitment to print.
