NZZ: Falling figures and expansion into Austria
In 2013, NZZ again suffered from declining revenues from the print advertising market and the print reader market. Although the digital market grew, it could only partially compensate for these losses. Nevertheless, the company intends to continue investing in publishing.
The NZZ Media Group made significantly lower sales and profits in 2013 than in the previous year. Sales fell by 36.5 million to 482.4 million Swiss francs. This corresponds to a decline of 7 percent, as NZZ announced on Friday. The figures also show a downward trend in profit: The operating result before interest and taxes fell by 7.4 milllions to 30.6 million francs. Earned the NZZ Group bottom line last year still 24.9 million francs - a decline of 6 million francs compared to 2012.
Although the digital advertising and reader market achieved an 8 percent increase in sales, this was not enough to compensate for the massive drop in earnings from the print sector. The print advertising market lost CHF 6.8 million , the print reader market CHF 2.5 million. The number of employees was reduced significantly last year, from 1639 to 1514. This corresponds to a reduction of 8 percent of all employees.
NZZ reviews projects in Austria
Despite these unpleasant figures, the NZZ Media Group is sticking to its decision to invest around CHF 10 million in journalism in the coming years. "We are facing up to the changes in the media world with its declining subscription and advertising revenues by going on the offensive," NZZ CEO Veit Dengler is quoted as saying in the statement.
The first step is an expansion into neighboring German-speaking countries, initially into Austria, where NZZ CEO Dengler comes from. The NZZ is convinced that there are enough customers in Austria who would appreciate the offer of liberal quality journalism.
Austrian journalist Michael Fleischhacker, former editor-in-chief of the daily Die Presse, will examine the possibilities in Austria on behalf of the NZZ Media Group. According to the NZZ, there is no concrete project. The media channel has also not yet been defined. (SDA)
