LZ Medien Holding again makes less sales and more profit
LZ Medien Holding, which includes the Luzerner Zeitung, Radio Pilatus and Tele 1, once again generated lower sales in 2016, but was able to further increase Group profit.
The company, which belongs to the NZZ Group, earned less from advertising. Sales in the reader market also declined. LZ Group's sales last year amounted to 120.7 million Swiss francs, 3.7 percent less than in the previous year. Operating profit (EBIT) of 9.0 million Swiss francs was 5.2 percent lower than the previous year. Group profit, on the other hand, continued to rise by 0.1 to 8.4 million francs, the company announced Friday.
LZ Medien Holding reported 4.1 percent lower advertising revenues than in 2015. Revenues in the reader market also declined by 2.5 percent. Printing and other revenues were also down, mainly due to intense competition in commercial printing.
The company attributes the declines to the ongoing structural changes in the industry. However, LZ Medien performed significantly better than its other competitors, according to the statement. The national market comparison for print advertising shows a decline of as much as 13.6 percent.
Thanks to closer cooperation with Tagblatt Medien, the company achieved significant savings. Operating expenses fell by CHF 4.2 million to CHF 111.6 million. The media company benefited above all from a higher financial result and better extraordinary income due, among other things, to higher returns on the capital markets.
Total assets amounted to CHF 124.0 million at the end of 2016. The equity ratio was 73.8 percent. The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that an unchanged ordinary dividend of 80 Swiss francs be distributed. In addition, there will be a special dividend of 60 (previous year 80) francs per share. (SDA)
