Media Houses Scandinavia
| MEDIA HOUSES SCANDINAVIA (NOK million) | 2010 | 2009 |
| Operating revenues |
9,771 |
8,657 |
| Operating profit before income from associated companies, impairment loss and other revenues and expenses |
966 |
540 |
Main features in 2010
- Underlying growth in operating revenues of 2 per cent in 2010. Good developments in online and print advertising sales, but a decline in circulation revenues. The reported revenues increased by 13 per cent, positively affected by the consolidation of Media Norge as from Q3 2009 and the stronger Swedish krona (SEK) exchange rate in relation to the Norwegian krone (NOK).
- The improvement in the operating profit compared to 2009 was due to the Group’s profitability programme, lower newsprint prices and higher advertising revenues.
Media Norge (media houses)
Media Norge owns leading subscription-based newspapers in four of Norway’s largest towns: Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. Each newspaper also has online editions which are leaders in their markets.
| MEDIA NORGE ex. Finn.no (NOK million) | 2010 | 2009') |
| Operating revenues |
|
|
| Advertising revenues |
2,319 |
2,180 |
| Circulation revenues |
1,331 |
1,318 |
| Other revenues |
822 |
952 |
| Total revenues |
4,472 |
4,450 |
| Operating profit before income from associated companies, impairment loss and other revenues and expenses |
348 |
82 |
| Circulation weekdays (copies) 1) |
423,792 |
431,026 |
| Adv. volum volum (column meters) 1) |
132,741 |
124,594 |
1) Total Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, Stavanger Aftenblad and Fædrelandsvennen.
*) Figures for 2009 for comparison purpose, and includes Schibsted Trykk.
Main features in 2010
- 2010 was a good editorial year for the Media Norge newspapers, and Bergens Tidende was chosen as Newspaper of the Year in 2010 by the Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association.
- All four media houses improved their operating profits in 2010 as a result of better advertising developments, good cost control and lower paper prices.
- The improvements in the advertising markets led to a growth of 6 per cent in the advertising revenues for 2010. The advertising revenues from online ads, the weekend magazine and recruitment ads in particular grew compared to 2009.
- The circulation volume fell slightly in 2010, with a slightly better conclusion to the year. The circulation revenues rose by 1 per cent due to price increases.
- The Media Norge companies worked on coordination projects relating to support and common functions in 2010. These measures are helping to free up resources so that the media houses can work more efficiently and improve the quality of their products.
- Media Norge’s online newspapers had a strong end to the year 2010, and all the online newspapers became profitable in the fourth quarter.
Verdens Gang (VG)
Verdens Gang publishes Norway’s clearly leading single-copy sales newspaper. The online edition, VG.no, is the largest online newspaper in Norway and among the absolutely biggest websites irrespective of category.
| VERDENS GANG (NOK million) | 2010 | 2009 |
| Operating revenues |
|
|
| Print newspaper |
1,580 |
1,645 |
| VG Multimedia |
295 |
305 |
| Other revenues |
33 |
13 |
| Total revenues |
1,909 |
1,961 |
| Operating profit before income from associated companies, impairment loss and other revenues and expenses |
317 |
323 |
| of which print |
261 |
255 |
| of which VG Multimedia |
62 |
69 |
| Circulation weekdays (copies) |
233,295 |
262,374 |
| Adv. volume (column meters) |
12,010 |
11,146 |
| Unique users VG.no (million) |
3.5 |
3.3 |
Main features in 2010
- The VG Group’s advertising revenues were high in 2010, with increases of 9 per cent and 7 per cent for VG’s print edition and online edition (excluding Nettby) respectively.
- The circulation revenues fell by 8 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009. The weekday circulation fell by 11 per cent while the Sunday circulation fell by 7 per cent. The single-copy sales price for the Saturday edition was increased from NOK 17 to NOK 20 on 4 September 2010.
- The print edition’s total operating expenses fell by 5 per cent as a result of the profitability programme, smaller circulation volume and lower newsprint prices.
- VG Multimedia’s operating profit fell in 2010, mainly as a result of the nettby.no (social network) service being wound up in December 2010 following a decline in the number of users.
- The position as Norway’s absolutely largest website measured in traffic was maintained during the year.
- VG Mobil’s traffic increased sharply during the year. The mobile service had 554,000 unique visitors in week 52 and was more than twice as large as its closest competitor (source: TNS Gallup).
Schibsted Sverige
Schibsted Sverige consists of three key business areas: Aftonbladet (print-based single-copy sales and online newspaper), Svenska Dagbladet (print-based morning and online newspaper) and Schibsted Tillväxtmedier (web-based growth companies). Hitta.se is a part of Schibsted Tillväxtmedier but is reported as part of the Online Classifieds business area.
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a newspaper house with number one positions in both the print and online sectors. Aftonbladet’s single-copy newspaper is Sweden’s largest newspaper, while Aftonbladet.se is the clear leader in online news.
| AFTONBLADET (SEK million) | 2010 | 2009 |
| Operating revenues |
2,443 |
2,409 |
| of which print newspaper |
1,990 |
2,042 |
| of which online newspaper |
453 |
367 |
| Operating profit before income from associated companies, impairment loss and other revenues and expenses |
310 |
197 |
| of which print newspaper |
203 |
129 |
| of which online newspaper |
107 |
68 |
| Circulation weekdays (copies) |
310,900 |
348,800 |
| Adv. volume (column meters) |
19,713 |
18,158 |
| Unique users Aftonbladet.se (million) |
5.1 |
4.4 |
Main features in 2010
- The Aftonbladet print edition’s advertising revenues increased by 10 per cent compared to 2009.
- The circulation revenues fell by 6 per cent as a result of a smaller paid circulation and lower volume of additional products. The increase in the single-copy sales price from SEK 10 to SEK 11 on 20 December 2009 made a positive contribution.
- The print edition’s total operating expenses fell by 7 per cent, mainly due to the profitability programme, smaller circulation volume and lower newsprint prices.
- Aftonbladet Nya Medier’s revenues rose by 23 per cent in 2010 as a result of good advertising sales.
- The volume of online traffic rose sharply in 2010 and Aftonbladet’s position as Sweden’s absolutely leading news website was reinforced.
Svenska Dagbladet (SvD)
Svenska Dagbladet is the third largest subscription-based newspaper in Sweden and has a particularly strong position in the Stockholm region.
| SVENSKA DAGBLADET (SEK million) | 2010 | 2009 |
| Operating revenues |
1,144 |
1,079 |
| Operating profit before income from associated companies, impairment loss and other revenues and expenses |
92 |
(17) |
| Circulation weekdays (copies) |
192,100 |
195,400 |
| Adv. volume (column meters) |
26,464 |
23,788 |
| Unique users SvD.se (million) |
0.9 |
0.7 |
Main features in 2010
- Svenska Dagbladet’s circulation revenues increased by 4 per cent as a result of price increases.
- The print edition’s advertising revenues rose by 11 per cent in 2010.
- The operating profit improved sharply compared to 2009.
- Svenska Dagbladet was chosen as Sweden’s Newspaper of the Year in 2010 by the Swedish Media Publishers’ Association.
Schibsted Tillväxtmedier
Schibsted Tillväxtmedier consists of a portfolio of web-based growth companies. These companies benefit greatly from the strong traffic positions and brands of Schibsted’s established operations in Sweden.
Main features in 2010
- Schibsted Tillväxtmedier’s online services such as loan brokering, price comparisons and the TV guide developed strongly in Sweden.
- Most of the portfolio’s operations experienced good growth and improvements in their results and in total this made a positive contribution to the operating profit.