Operating profit (Ebitda) amounted to 365 million euros, down 8% and net financial debt now stands at 314 million euros (0.86 times EBITDA.

Despite “more difficult” market conditions, DPG Media posted what it describes as a “good result” for 2022, this media company to which VTM, RTL Belgium (in joint venture with Rossel) and Het belong in particular Laatste Nieuws. Its turnover thus increased very slightly, by 1%, to 1.830 billion euros. Net profit, meanwhile, fell 5% to 200 million euros, an effect of the “sharp increase” in costs.

Inflation, soaring paper prices and increased distribution costs therefore weighed on the results of the publishing business. Sales, on the other hand, stabilized at the level of the year of excellence 2021. The total number of subscriptions to DPG Media’s publishing brands increased by 2% to reach 3 million subscribers. Paid circulation of news media remained stable, despite a further decline in newsstand sales and the number of subscribers to print media. The number of digital subscriptions (+14%) continued to increase steadily.

In 2022, DPG Media and Rossel (Le Soir, Sudinfo, SoirMag) acquired RTL Belgium. “Both on television and radio, great prospects for synergy are emerging between the North and the South, which will benefit advertisers,” points out the company.

Together with the telecom operator Telenet, it will also continue to invest in the development of the Streamz video platform, “which has carved out a place for itself among global players such as Netflix and Disney thanks to a wide range of local productions and high-quality foreign films and series”.

The effects of high inflation, rising labor costs and paper prices will be felt throughout 2023, which will further weigh on the result, predicts DPG Media, for whom “the big unknown is knowing how the advertising market will evolve in this difficult economic context”.