Egmont transforms media business and delivers record revenue and growth in profit

Egmont is successful in developing its media and creating next-generation media businesses in a market affected by major changes and new consumption patterns. The media group’s revenue increased by nearly EUR 100m to a record-high EUR 1.6bn in 2018, driven by growth areas in e-commerce, gaming, marketing services, and TV streaming, and by outstanding content in movies, books and magazines, and on TV 2 Norway.  

Egmont’s total business activity, including its share of non-consolidated growth companies, generated revenue of EUR 1.9bn. A quarter of all revenue is generated by new business areas built up in recent years as part of the growth strategy “Grow with the Modern Consumer”. Egmont is now a majority or minority shareholder in seven leading Nordic e-commerce businesses, six gaming companies, and six marketing services agencies, all of which operate in growth markets with strong consumer appeal.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by around EUR 30m to EUR 190m, while earnings before tax (EBT) increased by EUR 3m to EUR 81m. These satisfactory results reflect Nordisk Film releasing outstanding movies that filled cinemas, TV 2 Norway gaining market share thanks to strong TV formats, sports and journalism, Egmont’s book publishers releasing many of the year’s bestsellers, and Egmont Publishing providing engaging print and digital content to millions of media users across the Nordic region.

“Egmont is home to ambitious and creative people with the right technological and commercial skills for us to succeed in building new business and developing our core activities,” says CEO and President Steffen Kragh. “This is important, because we - like the rest of the media industry - are under considerable pressure in some areas. Our key focus is on becoming even more user and data driven to ensure that we are attractive to the modern media consumer, while retaining our publishing core and our vision of being the master storyteller. I’m proud of the excellent content we created in 2018 and pleased that our new businesses have grown strong. We expect our strategy to bring further growth in the coming years.”

2018 highlights

• TV 2 Norway delivered a strong programme lineup of news, sports, and entertainment that reached 71% of the population through linear channels on a weekly basis, in addition to its streaming service TV 2 Sumo which is the largest in Norway by revenue with more than 400,000 subscribers. TV 2’s extensive sports coverage was boosted by extending its attractive Premier League soccer rights through to the 2021/22 season.
• Nordisk Film has invested more than EUR 130m in building a strong growth area in computer games and considerably enlarged its portfolio of gaming companies in 2018 with the acquisition of Sweden’s Avalanche Studios among others. As the leading film and TV drama producer in the Nordic region, Nordisk Film delivered blockbusters such as A Fortunate Man, Checkered Ninja, The Guilty, and The Purity of Vengeance during the year, and its cinema chain cemented its position in Denmark and Norway and moved into Sweden.
• Egmont Publishing consolidated and enhanced its portfolio of e-commerce companies and marketing services agencies. It now holds stakes in seven e-commerce companies which generated combined revenue of EUR 320m in 2018, and is thus two-thirds of the way to its target of total e-commerce revenue of EUR 500m in 2020. Egmont Publishing showed strong profitability in the Nordic region but faced challenges in other markets due to a tough print market.
• Book publisher Lindhardt og Ringhof in Denmark continued its digital expansion and enjoyed its best year in recent times with a string of Danish and international bestsellers. The company now has more than 40,000 digital book titles and plans to publish digitally in more than 15 countries. Cappelen Damm, Norway’s largest book publisher, was hit by a tough Norwegian market and recorded a loss, partly due to challenges for its bookseller chain Tanum.

As a commercial foundation, Egmont reinvests profits in developing media and made charitable donations of EUR 13m in 2018 to help vulnerable children and young people in Denmark and Norway and to support film talents through the Nordisk Film Foundation. Egmont supported a variety of projects and partner organisations during the year, including efforts to help dyslexic children complete their education and Save the Children Denmark’s young family clubs which give parents tools to promote their children’s wellbeing and positive development. Since 1920, Egmont has made donations totalling EUR 399m. 

Further information:

Jesper Eising
Head of Press, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 29603019

Line Aarsland
Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 24407471

Photos for media use click here:

TV 2

Revenue: EUR 465m (456m), Operating profit: EUR 41m (35m)

TV 2 is Norway’s largest commercial media house and delivers news, sports, and entertainment through nine TV channels and the streaming service TV 2 Sumo. 2018 saw growth in both revenue and operating earnings, and TV 2 was Norway’s largest broadcaster for the 20-49 age group. Strong programme formats such as reality show Farmen, celebrity dance show Skal vi danse?, crime show Åsted Norge, and talkshow Senkveld med Helene og Stian proved very popular. TV 2 Nyhetskanalen, Norway’s only 24-hour news channel, saw solid growth in viewing figures. TV 2 offers Norway’s strongest sports coverage and extended its rights to broadcast Premier League soccer. The business has undergone a major transformation into an ultra-modern digital media house, where TV 2 Sumo is Norway’s largest streaming service by revenue with more than 400,000 subscribers. TV 2 signed a new five-year agreement with the Norwegian government to deliver public service TV from 1 January 2019.  

Nordisk Film

Revenue: EUR 559m (498 m), Operating profit: EUR 28m (17m)

Nordisk Film produces movies and TV series in the Nordic region, operates cinemas in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and has substantial interests in interactive games. 2018 brought record revenue and strong operating earnings. Nordisk Film has built up a substantial growth business in computer games development, investing more than EUR 130m since 2017 in a dynamic portfolio of six gaming companies. In 2018, it became the sole shareholder in Swedish gaming company Avalanche Studios and acquired substantial minority stakes in two other Swedish companies, Star Stable Entertainment AB and Raw Fury. Nordisk Film and its associated companies enjoyed a fantastic year on the silver screen, with strong movies such as The Purity of Vengeance, A Fortunate Man, The Guilty, and Checkered Ninja in Denmark, the fourth film in the Sune series in Sweden, and The Quake and Blind Spot in Norway. Already the market leader in Denmark and Norway, the cinema chain opened its first cinema in Sweden during the year and sold a total of 9m cinema tickets. Growth business GoGift reported strong double-digit revenue growth in digital gift card solutions.

Egmont Publishing

Revenue: EUR 522m (505m), Operating profit: EUR 26m (33m)

Egmont Publishing is behind 700 magazine titles across more than 30 countries, as well as leading e-commerce companies and marketing services agencies. Revenue increased in 2018 thanks to the new business areas in e-commerce and marketing services, while operating earnings decreased due to a general downturn in print magazines, substantial restructuring costs, and investments in e-commerce. Profitability was strong in the Nordic region, but a number of other markets were hit by the decline in the market for print media. Egmont Publishing has a portfolio of seven Nordic e-commerce companies – Jollyroom, Fjellsport, Outnorth, Bagaren och Kocken, Med24, Nicehair and Garnius – which saw substantial growth in 2018 and generated combined revenue of EUR 320m, the goal being EUR 500m in 2020. Egmont Publishing is now the majority shareholder in Bagaren och Kocken, Outnorth, Nicehair, and Fjellsport. It also has six Nordic companies in marketing services – Ingager, s360, Belong, Klintberg Niléhn, KAN, and Sempro – which also posted strong revenue growth and earnings. Egmont Publishing is now the majority shareholder in Belong and Sempro. 

Egmont Books

Revenue including Egmont’s holding in Cappelen Damm: EUR 131m (132m)

Results excluding Cappelen Damm, which is not consolidated under IFRS:

Revenue: EUR 52m (48m) Operating profit: EUR 2m (5m)

Egmont Books comprises the part-owned Norwegian publisher Cappelen Damm and the Danish publisher Lindhardt og Ringhof. Both publish printed books, audio books, e-books, and educational materials. Lindhardt og Ringhof released around 600 new book titles in 2018 and now has more than 40,000 digital titles. The company saw growth in both revenue and earnings and was behind a number of the year’s most noteworthy books from the likes of Merete Pryds Helle, Knud Romer, Mich Vraa and Thomas Korsgaard, as well as the Danish version of the year’s biggest international memoir, Michelle Obama’s Becoming. SAGA, under Lindhardt og Ringhof, is Denmark’s largest digital publisher by far and is continuing to expand internationally into countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Poland. Earnings at Norway’s largest publisher, Cappelen Damm, were hit by a decline in the Norwegian book market, pressure on physical booksellers, and an upcoming school reform that had a negative impact on the company’s education activities.

Charitable activities

Egmont is a commercial foundation. Some of the profit generated by the media business is distributed to charitable activities helping vulnerable children and young people and supporting film talents, while the remainder is reinvested in developing the media group. The foundation mainly supports activities in Denmark, but also makes a number of donations in Norway. Since 1920, it has distributed a total of EUR 399m in today’s money. In 2018, it made donations of EUR 13m, including EUR 0.7m via the Nordisk Film Foundation. Egmont is working to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goal of a quality education for all by 2030. In 2018, the focus area was dyslexia. The Egmont Report 2018 unveiled brand-new data showing that dyslexia is a significant barrier to children’s education, and EUR 2.7m has been earmarked for dyslexia-related projects over a two-year period. In January 2018, Egmont and the thinktank DEA launched Småbørnsløftet – the Young Children Pledge –  a programme focusing on the first thousand days of a child’s life which aims to ensure that everyone gets off to a good start. 106 organisations have signed the pledge, and Egmont has earmarked EUR 10m for projects in this area, including a donation of EUR 0.9m to Save the Children Denmark’s young family clubs. In Norway, Egmont supported projects for children and young people under the Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ Foundation, and the Norwegian Red Cross. The Nordisk Film Foundation sent 59 film talents out into the world through its travel grants during the year and supported various initiatives focusing on the use of new technology in movie production.