Strong balance sheet is foundation for further growth

Advertising and distribution under pressure 

The turnover of our news media remained stable. Turnover from print advertising continued to decline and digital ad sales also fell, despite limited but promising growth of video and audio ad formats. Our subscription turnover and income from content licences compensated for this decline, demonstrating that our sales, retention and pricing policy for subscriptions is bearing fruit. In 2025, almost 70% of the turnover of our news media came from consumers, via subscriptions, single-copy sales and e-commerce.  

Declining print volumes and a stable paper price led to a further fall in print costs. In distribution, however, the reduction in volume led to an increase in cost price. This was exacerbated in Belgium by the ongoing transition of subscription volumes from bpost to considerably more expensive private distributors. The closure of our printing press in Amsterdam and a number of reorganisation and efficiency programmes ensured that fixed costs remained under control. The group’s operational result thus increased slightly compared to 2024. 

Solid basis for 
further growth 

In 2025, we sold a number of investments, including our 49% stake in Automotive MediaVentions, on which we realised a significant capital gain. At the same time, we impaired a number of immaterial and financial fixed assets in order to align their book value with expected future cashflow or fair market value. 

Taking into account these one-off effects, we recorded a net result after tax of €156.9 million. Our balance sheet was further strengthened as we maintained a modest pay-out ratio. At the end of 2025, the group had no net financial debts and equity capital had grown to €649.3 million, representing 52% of our total assets. This strong balance sheet gives us a solid foundation to support further growth.