Sanoma's Interim Report 1 January – 30 June 2015: Weak performance in Finland


Sanoma Corporation, Stock Exchange Release, 23 July 2015 at 8:30 CET+1

Second quarter

  • Net sales amounted to EUR 468.8 million (2014: 533.1).
  • Adjusted for changes in the Group structure, Sanoma’s net sales decreased by 6.6%.
  • Operating profit excluding non-recurring items was EUR 49.4 million (2014: 66.3).
  • Non-recurring items included in the operating profit amounted to EUR -40.3 million (2014: -63.0), mainly related to a write-down to reflect sales price regarding Belgian magazine titles and restructuring expenses. In the previous year, non-recurring items consisted mainly of restructuring expenses as well as a capital loss and write-down related to the sale of Belgian TV operations.
  • Earnings per share were EUR -0.12 (2014: -0.13).
  • Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.13 (2014: 0.23).
  • Cash flow from operations was EUR -40.6 million (2014: -14.2).

First half

  • Net sales amounted to EUR 848.9 million (2014: 971.3).
  • Adjusted for changes in the Group structure, Sanoma’s net sales decreased by 5.3%.
  • Operating profit excluding non-recurring items was EUR 29.6 million (2014: 62.3).
  • Non-recurring items included in the operating profit amounted to EUR -31.4 million (2014: 103.0), mainly related to sales gains and losses, restructuring expenses and a write-down to reflect sales price regarding Belgian magazine titles. In the previous year, non-recurring items consisted mainly of sales gains, restructuring expenses as well as a capital loss and write-down related to the sale of Belgian TV operations.
  • Earnings per share were EUR -0.18 (2014: 0.64).
  • Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR -0.02 (2014: 0.14).
  • Cash flow from operations was EUR -113.7 million (2014: -66.3).

Outlook (unchanged from the revised outlook published on 16 July 2015)

In 2015, Sanoma expects that the Group’s consolidated net sales growth adjusted for structural changes will be around the previous year’s development (2014: -3.7%). The operating profit margin excluding non-recurring items is estimated to be above 4% of net sales (2014: 6.2% of net sales).

Key indicators (based on reported figures, not adjusted for structural changes)

  4–6/ 4–6/ Change 1–6/ 1–6/ Change 1–12/
EUR million 2015 2014 % 2015 2014 % 2014
Net sales 468.8 533.1 -12.1 848.9 971.3 -12.6 1,901.6
Operating profit excluding non-recurring items 49.4 66.3 -25.4 29.6 62.3 -52.5 118.8
  % of net sales 10.5 12.4   3.5 6.4   6.2
Operating profit 9.2 3.2   -1.8 165.3   133.8
Result for the period -14.9 -17.6   -23.2 108.7   61.6
               
Capital expenditure * 18.3 13.3 37.7 30.3 22.9 32.0 50.7
  % of net sales 3.9 2.5   3.6 2.4   2.7
               
Return on equity (ROE), % ** -5.8 -14.9   4.9
Return on investment (ROI), % ** -0.4 -3.7   6.5
Equity ratio, %       41.9 40.3   42.2
Net gearing, %       78.1 76.6   66.7
               
Number of employees at the end of the period (FTE) 7,005 8,704 -19.5 7,583
Average number of employees (FTE) 7,021 8,742 -19.7 8,259
         
Earnings/share, EUR -0.12 -0.13   -0.18 0.64   0.32
Cash flow from operations/share, EUR -0.25 -0.09   -0.70 -0.41   0.45
               
Equity/share, EUR       5.45 5.79 -5.9 5.54

* Including finance leases.
** Rolling 12-month period.

Organic growth, %

    4–6/2015 vs. 4–6/2014 1–6/2015 vs. 1–6/2014 1–12/2014 vs. 1–12/2013
Media BeNe   -5.5 -3.7 -2.7
Media Finland   -5.4 -4.2 -5.3
Learning   -8.1 -7.7 1.0
Other   -30.7 -31.2 -14.2
Group   -6.6 -5.3 -3.7

Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, President and CEO

“Two out of our three strategic business units, Media BeNe and Learning, are on track. However, challenges in Media Finland continue.

The Finnish economy and advertising market continue to be depressed. Operating performance of Media Finland is disappointing. As a result, Sanoma revised a week ago its outlook for 2015 and withdrew the mid-term (2016) outlook.

A change programme in Media Finland is in progress. Further information will be communicated during the autumn.

Media BeNe has done major portfolio pruning in magazines and therefore net sales growth was negative. However, Media BeNe was able to increase its profitability. SBS TV operation is gaining momentum. The viewing and advertising share increased in the second quarter compared to the previous year.

Learning’s performance in the first and the second quarter was negatively impacted by the changes in ordering pattern as communicated earlier. Underlying business is solid despite some headwinds in Poland.

Thanks to the strong dedication and hard work of Sanoma’s employees, the Group-wide EUR 100 million cost savings programme was completed ahead of the schedule during the second quarter. However, streamlining of costs will continue and additional measures to improve profitability will be implemented.”

January–June 2015 Interim Report webcast

The event for analysts, investors and media will be held in English by President and CEO Harri-Pekka Kaukonen and CFO Kim Ignatius on 23 July 2015 at 11:00 Finnish time (9:00 UK time) at Sanomatalo, Töölönlahdenkatu 2, Helsinki. The live webcast can be viewed on Sanoma’s website at www.sanoma.com/en/investors and on demand after the event.

Please join by dialing
Finland: +358 (0)9 2313 9201 / US: +1 334 323 6201 / UK: +44 (0)20 7162 0077 / Netherlands: +31 (0)20 7965 008  
Conference id: 953914

Financial reporting 2015

Interim Report January–September will be published on 29 October 2015, approx. at 8:30.


Additional information
Sanoma's Investor Relations, Olli Turunen, tel. +358 40 552 8907

Sanoma.com

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Sanoma is a front running consumer media and learning company in Europe. In Finland and the Netherlands we are the market leading media company with a broad presence across multiple platforms. Our main markets in learning are Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. In 2014, Sanoma’s net sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion. Sanoma is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.


Attachments

Sanoma_2015_Q2_Report.pdf