New heads and changed strategy at Axel Springer publishing house

 
The German media group Axel Springer has reorganized the management of its Welt Group. This includes Die Welt, Welt am Sonntag, Welt Kompakt and Welt Online. Thomas Schmid will assume overall editorial responsibility for all titles. Ulf Poschardt, former Editor-in-Chief of the German Vanity Fair, returns to Welt am Sonntag as Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and Oliver Michalsky becomes Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Welt Online.Axel Springer has created the new position of Group Managing Director Public Affairs (President Public Affairs). Christoph Keese, former Editor-in-Chief of Welt am Sonntag, will take on this role on April 1. He will represent the Group's interests nationally and internationally vis-à-vis politicians and associations and prepare future expansion steps. In this role, this can be done in a "more targeted and transparent" manner, said Group CEO Matthias Döpfner.
At the publisher's annual press conference held on the same day, information was also provided on the financial situation and future fields of action. Apart from the write-down of the mail services subsidiary PIN, which resulted in a loss of 288 million euros for the Group (previous year: 291 million euros surplus), the Group's operating earnings strength in its core business had reached a record level, said Döpfner. This is also reflected in this year's record dividend of 4 euros (previous year: 3.5 euros). Group turnover rose by 8.5 percent compared to the previous year to 2.58 billion euros.
The media group, which publishes the Welt titles as well as Bild, for example, is focusing on further expansion in international markets and on the Internet following its withdrawal from the mail business. "The growth of the future clearly lies in digitization and abroad," said Döpfner. An even stronger focus on the core print business and "non-political fields" is also a lesson from the halt to plans in the postal market (see:
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