Egmont Publishing revenues fall 1%

Egmont Group, the Scandinavian media group that owns Egmont Publishing, said 2015 was a "satisfactory” year, as revenues increased 1.5% to €1.6bn (£1.25bn).

The company saw sales growth thanks to "strong” media content and digital businesses, as well as media channels with direct consumer contact. However, the company was also negatively affected by "fierce” competition, and pre-tax profit fell 19.7% to €102m (£79.94m).

Steffen Kragh, president and c.e.o. of Egmont Group, said: "It is very satisfactory that we achieve revenue growth for the fourth consecutive year in a globalised media market, and that we are able to maintain a strong result. Our core business (magazines, film, TV and books) is healthy, but it is challenged by new consumer patterns, increasingly more expensive rights, and fierce global digital competition. We have made targeted efforts to create new businesses that contribute positively to our growth and also help create the foundation for a strong Egmont in the future. At the same time we are transforming our existing media business.”

The group also gave €12m (£9.41m) to charitable initiatives last year, he added.

The Egmont Publishing division, which includes the company’s UK business, achieved revenues of €594m (£465m) last year, down 1% from 2014, but operating profit was up 2.9% to €36m (£28.22m).

The company said Egmont Publishing’s key markets of the Nordic countries, Germany, the UK and Poland performed well, but the overall results were hampered by challenges in Russia. The Disney brands of Starwars and Frozen were particularly strong, it added.

Other highlights included successful films produced by Nordisk Film, including the Oscar-nominated "A War", and strong revenues from TV company TV2. The publishing houses Lindhardt og Ringhof in Denmark and Cappelen Damm in Norway “delivered solid results and digital growth”.