Financial results - Mediahuis

The group’s operational result remains under pressure as a result of difficult market conditions and fell from €156 million to €153 million, despite a slight increase in sales and the expansion of the portfolio. The total number of subscribers to our news brands fell by 1%, but the number of digital subscribers continues to grow and now makes up almost 50% of the total. Thanks to a smart pricing policy, the average revenue per user (ARPU) of both print and digital subscriptions has increased. Revenue from individual sales of newspapers continued to fall, particularly in Ireland.

It has been a difficult year overall for our news media on the advertising market, with some regional variations. Print revenue declined further, as expected, while digital growth was limited. In a difficult market, the e-commerce activities of our news media achieved the same gross margin as in the previous year. For our marketplaces, both employment and comparison market sales faced pressure due to economic conditions, while the car market recovered and grew. 

The distribution cost per copy increased further, particularly in the Netherlands and Germany. The declining number of print subscribers, changing regulations, and difficulties in finding and retaining newspaper distribution staff all contributed to increased pressure on costs. The historically high paper prices of 2022, however, returned to an acceptable level. This was the result of global demand for newsprint falling and lower than expected energy prices.

A largely stable total turnover, combined with only slightly reduced variable costs, meant that the group’s overall gross margin grew insufficiently to fully offset the effect of inflation on wages and other costs. Through its declining print activities, Mediahuis has evolved to become a fixed-cost organisation. However, in a competitive and changing market like the news media, inflation-driven increases in costs can only be passed on to customers to a limited extent. Optimising costs through process optimisation and automation, improving efficiency and making maximum use of the group’s scale is an ongoing task and is part of the Mediahuis DNA. In 2023, however, this was not sufficient to maintain the operating result at the previous year’s level.

After adding the result of the financial year, the group’s equity has reached the half-billion euro mark. Mediahuis now has a solid 42% ratio of equity to total assets on a slightly increased balance sheet total. The group invested more than €80 million in 2023, via acquisitions and participation in businesses that strengthen and broaden the portfolio of news media and marketplaces. Mediahuis Ventures also expanded its portfolio of promising digital and fast-growing businesses in HR technology and education technology.

Thanks to solid free cash flow, the group’s net debt position remains low at -€89 million, or a leverage ratio of 0.45. Mediahuis has the balance sheet and financial space to grow further.

“We’re investing on three fronts,” says Paul. “First, we’re looking at how we can continue to enhance our position and strength in our core business, the news market. In 2023, we did this by selling 20% of our shares in Nostalgie Vlaanderen radio to Telenet in Belgium. This allowed us to strengthen cooperation with the Play television channels. In the Netherlands, we significantly expanded our radio brand portfolio by acquiring Radio Veronica and Radiocorp, the company behind the stations 100% NL, SLAM! and Sunlite. In the auction of frequencies for national commercial radio stations, we acquired two FM frequencies. We did this mainly to position ourselves more strongly in the Dutch advertising market. Another investment was the acquisition of RouteYou. We believe in the growth of this navigation platform, and we see it as an asset to further enrich services to our subscribers in the future.”

“A second investment avenue is geographical expansion. Mediahuis has grown into a European player that today operates in six countries. We are closely monitoring how we can further expand our position in those countries and elsewhere. Things remained quiet in that respect in 2023, but no doubt new opportunities will present themselves in the future.”

The markets where we were most active in terms of new investments were Mediahuis Marketplaces and Mediahuis Ventures. Paul: “That’s true, and that’s also very important for the group. Our marketplaces are doing very well internationally. They employ around 300 people, spread across the various countries where we operate. Our platforms generate a turnover of around 70 million euros and an operational result of 20%. To further strengthen the success and profitability of our marketplaces, we are counting on organic growth as well as sensible participations and acquisitions. For example, in 2023 we acquired Skarabee and Logic-Immo, two companies we added to our real estate platform, Zimmo.

“Finally, let’s take Mediahuis Ventures. Here, as a group, we are really entering new markets. We’re focusing on education technology and HR technology, two areas with great growth potential. Over the past year, we’ve invested in new scale-ups and injected additional funds into companies we’ve been participating in for some time, such as Tomorrow University and Lepaya.”

February

• Mediahuis sells 20% of its shares in radio station Nostalgie Vlaanderen to Telenet Group. The entry of Telenet as a shareholder strengthens cooperation with the Play television channels; cross-promotion ensures that the Play Nostalgie brand becomes better known among Flemish listeners. Mediahuis remains majority shareholder after the sale with 55% of the shares, directly and indirectly. 
  

March

• Automotive MediaVentions, the joint venture of Mediahuis and DPG Media and parent company of Gaspedaal.nl, AutoTrack and AutoWereld, acquires AutoBinck Group’s online car platform Bynco.
  

April 

• Mediahuis acquires full shareholding of RadioCorp, owner of radio stations 100% NL, SLAM! and Sunlite. At the same time, Mediahuis and Talpa Network reach agreement on Mediahuis’ acquisition of Radio Veronica. For Mediahuis, these acquisitions represent a significant expansion of its existing radio brand portfolio and a strengthening of its position in the advertising market.
  In the auction of FM frequencies for national commercial radio stations, Mediahuis wins two FM licences that it awards to Radio Veronica and 100% NL.NL.

• Mediahuis strengthens its position in the real estate technology market with investment in Smooved, a Belgian property technology scale-up that uses software solutions to help real estate agents increase customer satisfaction and generate more sales mandates. Smooved enables brokers to offer value-added services to their customers, such as optimising energy and telecoms contracts.  

May

• Mediahuis increases its European ambitions with the acquisition of the pan-European Euractiv Media Network which focuses on reporting on EU policy. Journalists in Brussels, Paris and Berlin, complemented by partners across Europe, provide Euractiv’s news content in 12 languages.  

• Real estate platform Zimmo, a Mediahuis subsidiary on the Belgian market, acquires the brand and customers of its French-speaking sector peer Logic-Immo.be. With this transaction, Zimmo acquires a significant share of the housing search market in Brussels and Wallonia.  

• Lepaya, the Dutch education technology specialist in which Mediahuis participates, acquires Krauthammer, a provider of senior leadership training courses. This acquisition makes Lepaya the largest corporate edtech provider for learning and development programmes in Europe. 

June

• Mediahuis Ventures invests in the Amsterdam start-up Settly, a HR platform that supports international employees during relocation. Settly offers support in immigration, relocation and financial matters, and focuses on how people feel in their new home by actively connecting them with their new environment. . 

• Mediahuis Ventures participates in a new investment round for the German Tomorrow University. The education technology player is a remote-first university whose mission is to turn changemakers into conscious entrepreneurs. The additional investment should support Tomorrow University in building a global community of business leaders and industry experts dedicated to creating a more sustainable future. 

July

• Mather Economics, the US yield management consulting firm in which Mediahuis has a majority stake, acquires Sophi. Sophi provides AI-driven automation and optimisation technology for modern newsrooms and was until recently a subsidiary of The Globe and Mail, Canada’s leading news media company.  

• Paramount Packaging is acquired by Reach Group, a subsidiary of Mediahuis Ireland. Paramount Packaging is a leading Irish importer, distributor and supplier of premium paper and environmentally friendly packaging solutions to customers in a number of sectors, including pharmaceutical, retail, food services, commercial and industrial.
  

September 

• Mediahuis Ventures participates in a Series C investment round in Lepaya. The newly acquired capital will allow Lepaya to invest more heavily in developing and marketing its AI-based training platform. The platform redefines how employee skills are visualised and new skills are taught.

• Mediahuis is lead investor in an investment round for the Swiss CareerFairy, a fast-growing scale-up in recruitment technology. CareerFairy guides students as they explore the job market and connects them with companies that match their education, skills and interests. At the same time, it enables employers to interactively connect with young talent. 

• Mediahuis Ventures invests in Swap Language, a Danish-based provider of B2B language training. Swap Language offers customised training using a combination of video content, AI-generated exercises and real-life online lessons. Mediahuis leads the investment round that will be used by Swap Language to expand into the German market. 

• De Buren, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mediahuis in Belgium, announces its intention not to renew the operations of channels ATV and TV Oost with effect from 1 January 2025, following the end of the operations of regional television channel TVL.   
  

October 

• Mediahuis acquires Skarabee, a provider of innovative real estate software and websites for agencies in Benelux and France. Skarabee becomes part of Mediahuis subsidiary Zimmo. 

November 

• Mediahuis acquires the Belgian RouteYou, a navigation platform for recreational cycling and walking routes. RouteYou inspires millions of walkers, cyclists and other enthusiasts to plan and discover routes and helps in their online experience and navigation. The integration of RouteYou offers Mediahuis great opportunities to enrich its service to its subscribers.  

• Medienhaus Aachen announces that from mid-2024, it will no longer print the Aachener Zeitung and Aachener Zeitung am Sonntag at its Euregio Druck GmbH printing press in Aachen. As a result of falling print volumes, production is being moved to Coldset Printing Partners’ plant in Paal-Beringen, Belgium (Aachener Zeitung) and Weiss-Druck in Monschau, Germany (Aachener Zeitung am Sonntag). 

December 

• Mediahuis Ventures, with Newion, leads an investment round in Amsterdam start-up YourCampus. The innovative employee benefits platform offers staff clarity on their total compensation package and allows them to choose their holidays or fringe benefits, for example, based on their personal preferences and within the parameters set by the employer. 

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