Ringier Romania posts loss, expects more shrinking in print advertising

The local subsidiary of publishing company Ringier posted EUR 29.3 million in revenues last year, down more than 27 percent compared to a year before, the company has announced. The Swiss publishing group reported a loss of around EUR 13.6 million, after posting a profit in 2008. The advertising market has reached lows similar to the level in 2002 and 2003. “Back then we were making a profit, now we are not,” said Marius Hagger, head of Ringier Romania (in picture). He expects a further drop of the advertising market, especially on the print segment, for 2010 in Romania. “Advertising rates are dropping and there is a continuous competition between media companies,” Hagger added. More than half of the publisher's revenues came from copy sales, while the rest came from advertising sales. Ringier's printing houses have generated additional revenues too. Ringier Romania has recently sold newspaper Evenimentul Zilei and weekly magazine Capital to a firm controlled by Romanian investor Bobby Paunescu. The Swiss group posted EUR 907 million in revenues last year, a drop of 15.6 percent on 2008, and made a profit of EUR 12 million, down on the EUR 43.4 million profit displayed a year before. Ringier Romania still runs the Libertatea tabloid newspaper and glossy magazines Bolero, Unica, Bravo, Bravo Girl and Libertatea pentru Femei (Libertatea for Women).