News agency DPA increases turnover slightly in 2023

The revenue of the entire Group amounted to 165.9 million euros last year, as DPA announced at its shareholders' meeting in Hamburg on Tuesday. In 2022, the figure was 165.5 million euros. DPA has been in existence for 75 years.

The core company Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH reportedly generated revenue of 104.3 million euros after 103.2 million euros in the previous year. The Group's net profit for the year amounted to 1.4 million euros - in 2022 it was 1.2 million euros.

Among other things, the year at DPA was characterized by the opening of a multimedia producing newsroom in Berlin, the expansion of the video business and the development of an infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).

Several subsidiaries

DPA's subsidiaries made a decisive contribution to business performance. The largest contribution came from the News Aktuell business, for example with the "ots" distribution service. The photo subsidiary DPA Picture Alliance posted a slightly higher result. DPA-infocom generated a net profit for the year thanks to innovations in the area of data products and fact checks.

The Chairman of the DPA Management Board, Peter Kropsch, said according to the press release: "The diversification of the DPA Group and its services is and remains the key to our success as an independent news agency and as a joint venture of the German media." This is currently particularly evident in the development of the video business. Moving images have immense future potential for DPA. "We see the same in the area of AI: we want to use the editorial and entrepreneurial opportunities that this technology offers us in the interests of our customers," added Kropsch.

DPA Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann said: "Our multimedia newsroom in the heart of Berlin has turned out to be a success story after just a few months." It is an excellent response to the requirements of decentralized and mobile working. Gösmann also mentioned the new production system for the editorial team, Rubix. DPA's editorial teams work faster and are more closely networked as a result.

Downsized management

There were also changes to the management team. Matthias Mahn, Managing Director Human Resources & Legal, did not extend his contract, which was due to expire. The 63-year-old has worked for DPA since 2002 and has been Managing Director since 2010. His departure will reduce the size of the management team. DPA CEO Kropsch will now manage the company with longstanding Managing Director Andreas Schmidt.

The German Press Agency (AWP/DPA) was founded in 1949. It is one of the world's leading independent news agencies and supplies media, companies and organizations with editorial content. These include texts, photos, videos, graphics, radio reports and other formats.

Around 170 German media companies are shareholders of the DPA. Around 1000 journalists work at around 140 locations in Germany and abroad. The editorial team works independently of ideologies, commercial enterprises and governments. The central editorial office is located in Berlin, while the management is based at the company headquarters in Hamburg. (SDA/swi)