Media company Axel Springer wants to increase its online advertising business
Axel Springer—which operates in Switzerland in partnership with Ringier—plans to supplement its advertising platforms with journalistic content. In this way, the German media company aims to keep its journalism business stable despite the challenging environment.
Technology and data are becoming increasingly important for growth, explained CEO Mathias Döpfner (photo) at an Annual General Meeting in Berlin. Stephanie Caspar will take care of this area in a newly created board position. Last year, Springer had already benefited from strong growth in online job and real estate advertising. Group revenue increased by around eight percent to 3.56 billion euros in 2017.
In future, Springer wants to supplement digital platforms for advertisements, such as for cars, jobs or real estate, with additional journalistic content. The aim is to attract more users to these sites if they are interested in the relevant background information, such as mobility or quality of life.
The US news portal has had an extremely positive Business Insider which Springer acquired in 2015. In the
The platform is expected to break even in the second half of the year.
Development into a digital company
The digital subscriptions from Image and World increased by 9.3 percent to around 464,000 subscriptions in 2017 and could compensate for losses in print. It is becoming increasingly clear that Springer is a digital company, said Döpfner. Almost 72 percent of sales and almost 90 percent of advertising revenues are generated online. The company is also becoming more attractive for international investors, said Döpfner.
The dividend has increased tenfold since 2002. It most recently amounted to 2 euros per share. For 2018, the Group anticipates an increase in turnover in the low to mid single-digit percentage range.
Axel Springer is also active in Switzerland through a joint venture with the media company Ringier. The joint venture Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland has been operational since January 1, 2016. The portfolio includes the magazines Balance, Observer, GlücksPost and the Swiss Illustrated or the Handelszeitung. (SDA DPA)
