Egmont

Company Information & Key Figures

About

Egmont is a leading media group in the Nordic region, with activities in 30 countries and 6,200 employees. The media portfolio includes, among others, Nordisk Film, TV 2 in Norway, cinemas, book publishers, educational publishers and PlayStation as well as a number of partly owned film companies.

The Egmont Foundation is the parent company. As a foundation, Egmont conducts both commercial and charitable activities. The media companies all operate commercially under the Egmont banner, while the foundation solely works with charitable activities for vulnerable children and youngsters. The foundation annually donates a share of the profits from the media companies to institutes, organizations and projects working with children and youngsters.

In November 2013, Egmont created a new publishing unit formed out of Egmont Kids Media and Egmont Magazines, named Egmont Publishing. The unit produces over 700 weekly and monthly magazines, as well as hundreds of children’s books, including licensed brands, in more than 30 countries. It also operates digital services and e-commerce activities.

Egmont Books consists of Norway’s largest publisher, Cappelen Damm; with a range of activities from general literature, education, book clubs and e-commerce to the bookstore chain Tanum and the distribution business Sentraldistribusjon; and Denmark’s second-largest publisher, Lindhardt og Ringhof. The Lindhardt og Ringhof includes the publishing units Lindhardt og Ringhof, Alinea, Akademisk Forlag, Alfabeta, Carlsen, Saga Egmont as well as Story House. Egmont Books publishes fiction and non-fiction, children’s books, audiobooks, e-books and educational materials. Egmont’s non-Scandinavian book publishing activities such as the Turkish publisher Dogan Egmont and the Australian press Hardie Grant belong to the Egmont Publishing division.

Analysis & Key Developments

Financial

During 2017 Egmont’s total revenue amounted to 1,515mEUR, 44,9mEUR less than last year. Besides the group’s publishing revenues also declined from 529mEUR in 2016 to 505mEUR in 2017. Adjusted for currency, acquisitions, and divestments of businesses the revenue was 1.2% down against last year Moreover, the operating profit from publishing slipped to 38mEUR. (AR 2017)

• The in 2013 formed Publishing division, merging Egmont Kids Media and Egmont Magazines, recorded a loss of 24mEUR to 505mEUR against 529mEUR in 2016, caused by a decline in print publishing. Besides, substantial growth in e-commerce and marketing services contributed positively. Moreover, the operating profit of 33mEUR was down from 2016 due to the development in publishing and considerable investments in new business areas. (AR 2017)
• Revenues of the Egmont Books division, consisting of the revenues from Lindhardt og Ringhof, noted a slight increase to 48mEUR. The results were affected by investments in digital development and a number of licenses with a strong 2017 concerning revenue but an operating profit on a lower level than 2016. (According to amendments to the International Financial Report Standards it is no longer allowed to include revenues from Cappelen Damm in the consolidated financial statements.) (AR 2017)

Internal organization

Divestment

• Egmont’s only divestment during 2017 concerned Egmont Hungary which was sold for DKK 1, with a minor loss for the group. (AR 2017)

Acquisitions

• In January 2017, Egmont Publishing acquired 52.25% of the shares in Patchwork Group A/S, an agency creating social marketing for brands. (AR 2017)
• In October 2017, the group acquired 100% of the shares in Very ApS, a community marketing agency, in order to strengthen the Danish Content Marketing business and further develop this business area. (AR 2017)
• In December 2017, the groups publishing segment acquired 91,9% of the shares in Outnorth AB, a Swedish e-commerce company to which Egmont became co-owner at the beginning of the same year. (AR 2017; PR 11.12.2017)

International

EgmontsPublishing’s Chinese joint venture Childrens Fun Publishing delivered substantial growth and strong performance. According to the group, the joint ventures in Finland with Sanoma and the Turkish and Australian joint ventures all performed according to plan. Besides, Norway and Sweden, publishing Asterix in Germany and sound development in B2B sales contributed positively to revenues and profits. Denmark and the CEE region delivered according to plan and only the English-speaking region was a bit lower than expected. (AR 2017)

Digital

Saga Books, Lindhardt og Ringhof’s audio and digital imprint, has established itself in Sweden, Norway and Germany and will expand into Poland, the Netherlands and Finland during 2018. (AR 2017)

Bestseller

The Lindhardt og Ringhof fiction list 2017 was comprised of bestsellers such as Danish author Thomas Korsgaard’s Hvis der skulle komme et menneske forbi. One of the year’s bestselling Danish crime novels was Ligblomsten by Anne Mette Hancock. Lindhardt og Ringhof also successfully published new books by authors such as Steffen Jacobsen and Sissel-Jo Gazan.  

The non-fiction division held the position as publisher of history, cookbooks, lifestyle and culture, publishing books by authors such as Jamie Oliver, Claus Meyer and Yotam Ottolenghi. With the book Sluk – kunsten at overleve i en digital verden by M.D. Imran Rashid, Lindhardt og Ringhof set the agenda in the on-going discussion about human beings in a digital world. (AR 2017)