Ekspress Grupp increased its digital revenue and profitability last year
For AS Ekspress Grupp, the largest media organisation in the Baltic States, the year 2020 was a success: despite the state of emergency and the economic uncertainty due to the corona crisis, the Group managed to strengthen its positions and significantly improve profitability, the Group made an announcement to the stock exchange.
The 12-month consolidated revenue of Ekspress Grupp decreased by 6 per cent to 63.2 million euros as compared to the previous year. The revenue decline is primarily related to the impact of the state of emergency in the second quarter and lower revenue throughout the year in the printing services segment.
At the same time, the Group continued to grow its digital revenue and it accounted for 49 per cent of total and 71 per cent of media segment revenue at the end of December. The number of digital subscriptions of the periodicals of Ekspress Grupp increased by 73% in the Baltic States in 2020 and totalled above 81 thousand at the end of December.
The Chairman of the Management Board of Ekspress Grupp, Mari-Liis Rüütsalu noted that the year 2020 was a breakthrough year for the company in terms of the growth of its digital subscriptions in all markets. “The key growth driver of subscriptions was the change in the people’s attitudes and habits as well as the underlying changes and process in the society. Paying for high-quality digital content in one’s native language is becoming a norm these days. The general background also supported the change – dissemination of fake news and conspiracy theories on social media platforms has in turn laid importance on objective journalism in the society,” explained Rüütsalu.
The Group’s net profit increased by 80 per cent to 2.5 million euros last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Ekspress Grupp totalled 7.0 million euros, increasing by 3 per cent year-over-year.
As the future scope of the crisis related to the coronavirus is still unknown in 2021, the Group’s Management Board proposes to maintain the liquidity position and not to distribute the net profit for the financial year 2020, because the Group’s goal is to continue making investments in the growth of the digital business.
AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading media group in the Baltic States whose key activities include web media content production, publishing of newspapers and magazines and provision of printing services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Ekspress Grupp that launched its operations in 1989 employs 1600 people, owns leading web media portals in the Baltic States and publishes the most popular daily and weekly newspapers as well as the majority of the most popular magazines in Estonia.
Additional information:
Mari-Liis Rüütsalu
Chairman of the Management Board of AS Ekspress Grupp
mariliis.ryytsalu@egrupp.ee
Phone: +372 512 2591