Swiss media group Tamedia continued to expand its digital business in the past year. In addition to the online platforms JobCloud and homegate.ch, as well as the 20 Minuten news platforms, the newly launched payment models at Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund contributed to the 11.2 per cent organic growth of the digital business. In total, digital revenue jumped 16.4 per cent to CHF 271.1 million (previous year: CHF 232.9 million) thanks to the first-time inclusion of Doodle, home.ch and trendsales.dk. With operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of CHF 75.3 million (previous year: CHF 56.7 million), the Digital business division already accounted for one third of operating income. The Print Regional (-8.1 per cent) and Print National business divisions reported negative organic growth (-5.2 per cent). During the course of the current year Tamedia is planning the acquisition of the Ricardo Group, the complete takeover of the classified ad platform tutti.ch and of the vehicle portal car4you.ch as well as the merger of the directories portals search.ch and local.ch in a joint venture with Swisscom.

Pietro Supino, publisher and Chairman of the Board of Tamedia: “2014 was one of the best years ever in Tamedia's 120-year history. A steady positive performance in challenging times is more important than the excellent figures that have been reached. Although much is changing, the core of our business remains the same: The value proposition of the activities bundled under the umbrella of Tamedia Group continues to be the provision of information, oversight and guidance via journalistic offerings, services and platforms for commercial advertisements.”

Christoph Tonini, Chief Executive Officer: “We see digitalisation as an opportunity and are duly making our online offerings the focus of our investments. Thanks to strong organic growth and investment, we now generate one in three francs of our operating income with digital offerings. The planned acquisition of the Ricardo Group will bring us one step closer to our goal of increasing to 50 per cent in the next two to three years the amount contributed by our digital business to operating income. With the real estate platform homegate.ch, job advertisement platform JobCloud, online marketplaces ricardo.ch and ricardoshops.ch and general classified platforms OLX and tutti.ch, we will be the undisputed number 1 in the key classified advertising markets with major growth potential.”

Key figures

1 Proposed appropriation of profit by the Board of Directors

2 Equity to total assets

3 The margin relates to revenues

Print Regional
Revenues recorded by the Print Regional business division in 2014 rose 5.8 per cent to CHF 489.1 million (previous year: CHF 462.1 million). The revenue contribution of CHF 62.1 million by Ziegler Druck- und Verlags-AG, taken into account for the first time, offset the decline in organic growth of 8 per cent. Thanks to new cooperation models and supplements, as well as new third-party customer orders and efficiency-enhancing measures, operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 10.9 per cent to CHF 89.7 million (previous year: CHF 80.9 million). The EBITDA margin is now 16.6 per cent (previous year: 15.5 per cent). The Zurich regional newspapers Der Landbote, Zürcher Unterländer and Zürichsee-Zeitung put in particularly pleasing performances.

Print National
The Print National and Print Regional business divisions were challenged by the state of the print advertising market, which was down overall. Revenues recorded by Print National in 2014 declined 5.3 per cent to CHF 354.3 million (previous year: CHF 374.1 million). SonntagsZeitung and 20 Minuten in particular performed well, while Le Matin succeeded in virtually completely eliminating its previously high losses. High levels of investments in the expansion of the commuter newspaper Metroxpress had a negative impact on net income. The Danish equivalent of 20 Minuten, however, now already has more than twice as many readers as the second largest daily newspaper in Denmark and a revenue growth that is contrary to the market trend. Operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 10.8 per cent to CHF 66.0 million (previous year CHF 59.5 million) due to the measures initiated to improve efficiency. The EBITDA margin consequently rose to 18.5 per cent (previous year: 15.8 per cent).

Digital
The performance of the Digital business division was largely dominated by the first-time consolidation of Doodle, home.ch and trendsales.dk, as well as the first-time inclusion of Olmero, Renovero and Starticket over the entire reporting period. In the growth market for digital advertising, both the journalistic and commercial platforms posted solid organic growth of 11 per cent. Revenues from third parties recorded by the Digital business division increased 16.4 per cent in 2014 to CHF 271.1 million (previous year: CHF 232.9 million). Operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 32.9 per cent to CHF 75.3 million (previous year: CHF 56.7 million). The EBITDA margin, at 27.6 per cent, was likewise significantly higher than in the previous year (24.3 per cent).

Segmentation: new business divisions from the 2015 reporting year
Tamedia will adjust segment reporting simultaneously with the publication of its half-year results on 20 August 2015. The journalistic digital offerings will be disclosed together with the respective printed offerings in the two business divisions Publishing Regional (previously Print Regional) and Publishing National (formerly Print National). From then on, the Digital business division comprises exclusively commercial digital offerings. In this way, Tamedia is taking into account the ever closer link between digital and printed media via the introduction of digital payment models and converging editorial teams.

Media briefing and analyst information
The media briefing will be held today, Thursday, 12 March 2015, at 10.00 a.m. at the Tamedia headquarters located at Werdstrasse 21 in Zurich. A conference call will be held for analysts and investors at 12.00 noon. An English conference call will be provided on the following day where necessary for investors and analysts from overseas.

Note on the 2015 Annual General Meeting
Tamedia AG's annual general meeting will take place at 3.00 p.m. on 17 April 2015 at Kongresshaus Zurich located at Claridenstrasse 5, 8002 Zurich.
 
Additional information on Tamedia
Tamedia is a Swiss media group with its registered office in Zurich. With its daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, online platforms and printing facilities, Tamedia is one of the leading media companies in Switzerland. Thanks to their independent reporting and critical research, the media of Tamedia AG and its subsidiaries Tamedia Publications romandes and Espace Media make an important contribution to shaping public opinion and provide discussion topics with entertaining stories from all areas of life. Tamedia's digital offerings are brought together under the umbrella of Tamedia Digital. Founded in 1893, the company has approximately 3,400 employees in Switzerland, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Germany and has been listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange since 2000.

Additional information: http://www.tamedia.ch