Roularta, a well-known publisher, is set to continue its focus on cost control and the identification and implementation of “efficiencies” throughout the course of this year. This information comes from the publisher’s press release featured in Knack and Trends. Despite a slight increase in their gross margin last year, Roularta’s returns were negatively influenced by the combination of a decrease in advertising revenue and an increase in personnel costs.
Even though advertising breaks have become more expensive, Roularta managed to spend 8.5 percent less on advertisements on a comparable basis. On a positive note, the start of this year has observed an improvement in terms of advertising. However, revenue from the readers’ market dropped by 6.2 percent on a comparable basis.
With a turnover of 323.5 million, Roularta achieved an operating profit of only 3.2 million, which represents a drop of more than 40 percent. Consequently, Roularta’s operating margin stands at a mere 1 percent. The net amount was 0.7 percent.
Well-stocked cash register
Despite the current financial situation, Roularta has a well-stocked bank account with 68 million, although this is 16 million less than the previous year. The decline is attributed to investments in software for editorial and printing, as well as acquisitions, including several titles in the mindfulness segment in the Netherlands.
Roularta is increasingly becoming a Belgian-Dutch publisher of magazines affiliated with its own printing company that also provides services to third parties. Roularta has expressed its openness to opportunities in the printing market.
Roularta also has a 50 percent stake in Mediafin, which includes stock exchange newspapers and consumer websites. It is the most profitable part of the group. Mediafin’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) shrank to 16.6 million, despite a 6 percent increase in turnover. Meanwhile, Roularta’s gross operating profit fell by almost 30 percent to 21.6 million. This means that with only a quarter of Roularta’s turnover, Mediafin achieves a gross cash flow that is not much less than that of Roularta.
The challenge for Roularta lies in the fact that it does not include Mediafin’s results in its books. Only the net profit contribution is accounted for, which last year amounted to 3 million.
