The press group Roularta Media saw its turnover reduce by 7.3% in the course of the first six months of this year, comparatively going from €143 million in the first half of 2016 to €132.6 million in 2017. This figure excludes joint ventures. It was indicated in results published on Monday. Its net profit, down by 96.4%, has almost been reduced to nil.
Advertising revenues diminished by 9.4% for local media and by 7.1% for magazines (Le Vif/L'Express, Trends Tendances, Sport Foot Magazine and similar publications), but increased on the Internet (up by 15%). The news-stand sales figures of the group based in Roulers (West Flanders) contracted by 15.2%, whilst subscriptions slightly increased (up by 0.5%).
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were reduced by 55.7%, going from €19.9 million to €8.8 million owing to turnover contraction, as well as joint venture results and associated businesses. Profits before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were also affected by investments in audiovisual and the start-up costs for launching the e-commerce online platform Storesquare.be, active in the north of the country. The group anticipates extending the latter to the Netherlands over the next few months.
The overall net profit has thus gone from €13.9 million to €0.5 million. Reflecting this, the share price of Roularta Media was down by 7.28% on Monday when the Brussels Stock Exchange opened.
The Brussels Times
