Playboy also struggles with advertising slump
The economic crisis is taking a heavy toll on the publisher of *Playboy* magazine. The U.S. media conglomerate’s losses increased significantly in the fourth quarter. For 2008 as a whole, net losses totaled $156 million, compared with a profit of just under $5 million in 2007.
The economic crisis is hitting the publisher of the men's magazine Playboy hard. The losses of the US media group increased significantly in the fourth quarter. After 1.1 million in the previous year, the loss rose to 145.7 million dollars in the last quarter of 2008.
Restructuring and other one-off costs of 157.2 million dollars had a negative impact, as the company announced on Wednesday. Weaker demand caused turnover to fall surprisingly sharply by almost 20 percent to 69.8 million dollars.
According to the balance sheet, Playboy recorded significant growth in the US-American TV segment and in video orders. In the traditional magazine segment, however, sales slumped by around eleven percent. According to the publisher, a small plus would have been recorded if it had not been for one-off expenses such as the restructuring. In addition to the financial turbulence, the company is also currently experiencing personnel turmoil. In view of the crisis, the daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, Christie, recently stepped down as CEO after more than 20 years. The new boss Jerome Kern has now announced further cuts.
In 2008 as a whole, the losses amounted to 156 million dollars after a profit of just under 5 million dollars in 2007. Sales fell by 15 percent to 292 million dollars.
Restructuring and other one-off costs of 157.2 million dollars had a negative impact, as the company announced on Wednesday. Weaker demand caused turnover to fall surprisingly sharply by almost 20 percent to 69.8 million dollars.
According to the balance sheet, Playboy recorded significant growth in the US-American TV segment and in video orders. In the traditional magazine segment, however, sales slumped by around eleven percent. According to the publisher, a small plus would have been recorded if it had not been for one-off expenses such as the restructuring. In addition to the financial turbulence, the company is also currently experiencing personnel turmoil. In view of the crisis, the daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, Christie, recently stepped down as CEO after more than 20 years. The new boss Jerome Kern has now announced further cuts.
In 2008 as a whole, the losses amounted to 156 million dollars after a profit of just under 5 million dollars in 2007. Sales fell by 15 percent to 292 million dollars.
