Egmont delivers growth and satisfactory earnings in 2022

Egmont’s revenue increased by EUR 230m to EUR 2.3bn in 2022. Excluding the dispute with TV distributors in Norway, there was organic growth of 4.2%. It was a year of successful content and strong productions across the different businesses, TV 2 Play became the largest streaming service in Norway with 1.3 million customers, digital education strengthened significantly, and digital agencies continued their growth.

Earnings before tax amounted to EUR 67m against EUR 168m in 2021. There were three reasons for this, making 2022 a challenging year: soaring costs for the likes of energy, paper and printing; the loss of Premier League rights at TV 2 and protracted negotiations with two Norwegian TV distributors, which resulted in eight months of blackout in part of the Norwegian market; and a decline in demand in e-commerce in the wake of pandemic tailwind the previous years.  

“2022 earnings are satisfactory given that Egmont, like other media companies, were hit by significant cost increases, and that we also incurred substantial non-recurring expenses in long-lasting negotiations with TV distributors to secure the strategic important roll-out of TV 2 Play in the Norwegian TV market. We stepped up investment in content and put out a number of financial and creative successes – thanks to the dedicated work of our employees,” says Egmont’s CEO, Steffen Kragh.

Egmont continues to work on the green transition. In 2022, Egmont used 100 percent green electricity throughout the group (via Guaranties of Origin), and in 2023 a new solar farm will open in Denmark with Egmont as co-investor, increasing the supply of green energy in addition to Egmont’s existing solar plants. Egmont is also systematically mapping and reducing CO2 emissions in its supply chains (scope 3).

Egmont is a commercial foundation with a dual purpose: to develop modern media and to help children and young people at risk. Egmont donated EUR 13m to charitable activities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the year. This included support for children, young people and families fleeing to Scandinavia e.g. from the war in Ukraine.  

* EBT for 2021 is shown before non-recurring gains of EUR 78m due to value adjustments following the acquisition of part-owned businesses under IFRS accounting rules.

Further information:

Jesper Eising
Head of Press, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 29603019
jesper.eising@egmont.com

Amanda Justesen
Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 29478526
amanda.justesen@egmont.com

Photos for media use: www.egmont.com/media-archive

TV 2

Revenue: EUR 653m (618m) Operating profit after result from associates: EUR 8m (50m)

• TV 2 is Norway’s commercial public-service media house and delivers news, sports and entertainment through eight TV channels, the streaming service TV 2 Play and the news site tv2.no.
• Revenue grew in 2022 as a result of higher sales of subscriptions for TV 2 Play and full consolidation of RiksTV following the increase to a 100% holding in 2021. Earnings fell as a result of the loss of rights to Premier League soccer and protracted negotiations with TV distributors which resulted in blackout for a total of eight months in parts of the market. The Norwegian TV customers affected were, however, able to access TV 2’s content via TV 2 Play.  
• TV 2’s share of the commercial market was 51.2%, and its overall market share was 25.6%. The public service channel TV 2 Direkte saw success with both new and recurring programme formats. The third season of reality show Kompani Lauritzen attracted more than a million viewers on TV 2 Direkte and TV 2 Play combined. TV 2 Nyheter, Norway’s only 24-hour news channel, retained a solid audience share of 3.9% in the commercial market.
• 1.3 million subscribers have access to TV 2 Play which is Norway’s largest streaming service.
• Tv2.no saw growth of 20%, with 1.8 million unique users and 7.5 million daily page views.
• RiksTV, which distributes pay TV in the Norwegian terrestrial digital network and operates the streaming service Strim, saw strong growth and now has nearly 270,000 customers.

Nordisk Film

Revenue: EUR 573m (472m) Operating profit after result from associates: EUR 48m (72m)

• Nordisk Film is a leading Nordic entertainment and experience company focused on storytelling across multiple platforms.
• Revenue hit a record high as a result of strong consumer demand for films, cinemas and computer games. Earnings were solid but below the 2021 figure, which includes non-recurring gains of EUR 15m.
• Nordisk Film was behind the four highest-grossing Danish movies of the year: A Lucky Man, Rose, Fathers and Mothers and All for Four. In Norway, viewers flocked to the cinemas to see Narvik and When the Robbers Came to Cardemom Town. In Sweden, successes included I Am Zlatan and Håkan the Troublemaker.
• Nordisk film’s 47 cinemas in Denmark, Norway and Sweden were affected by Covid-19 restrictions at the beginning of the year. As they reopened, they enjoyed considerable support from movie goers, but the range of international titles was limited, and total visitor numbers remained below pre-Covid levels.
• Nordisk Games’ portfolio of seven computer games companies continued to grow. The holding in Supermassive Games, the company behind the acclaimed games The Quarry and The Devil in Me, was increased to 100%.
• Nordisk Film is behind PlayStation in the Nordic region and the Baltic States and saw strong demand for PlayStation 5.  

Story House Egmont

Revenue: EUR 853m (851m) Operating profit after result from associates: EUR 31m (79m)

• Story House Egmont has businesses in three areas: media, e-commerce and agencies.
• Revenue was stable in 2022, and Story House Egmont delivered earnings at pre-Covid levels. Earnings in both media and e-commerce surged in both 2020 and 2021 following pandemic tailwind.
• Story House Egmont has magazines and digital media in the Nordic region, Northern and Eastern Europe and some international markets. Media reported strong earnings despite soaring prices for paper and printing.
• Story House Egmont’s portfolio of seven Nordic performance marketing, B2B/inbound marketing and full-service digital agencies continued previous years’ progress and all delivered strong earnings.
• Story House Egmont’s portfolio of nine e-commerce companies focus on five strategic niches: outdoor, parenting, home & interior, health & beauty and hobby. Danish company AndLight was added to the portfolio during the year. Several companies in the e-commerce portfolio have been hit by weaker demand in the wake of waning consumer confidence, and by rising costs for the likes of transport and marketing.

Egmont Books

Revenue: EUR 224m (136m) Operating profit after result from associates: EUR 12m (70m)

• Egmont Books comprises the Norwegian publishing house Cappelen Damm and the Danish publishing house Lindhardt og Ringhof. The figures for 2022 include the whole of Cappelen Damm’s revenue following the acquisition of the remaining stake in the business in 2021, while the figures for 2021 include a non-recurring gain of EUR 55m for value adjustments.
• Cappelen Damm released more than 3,000 new titles in 2022 and saw revenue growth of 12%. The education business grew by 22%. According to statistics from the Norwegian Publishers’ Association, Cappelen Damm released almost 40% of all book publications put out in Norway during the year. These included two of the year’s three bestsellers: Valérie Perrin’s Fresh Water for Flowers and Norwegian politician Abid Raja’s My Fault. Authors on Cappelen Damm’s roster won three out of the five prestigious Brage awards.
• Lindhardt og Ringhof acquired digital education publisher Clio and is the leader in digital educational materials in Denmark. The year’s releases included Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speeches and new books from authors such as Leif Davidsen and Maren Uthaug, who won the Golden Laurel. Lindhardt og Ringhof’s digital publisher Saga Egmont acquired German audiobook company Dotbooks and secured 22,000 new digital book rights, and now has more than 120,000 digital rights in more than 30 languages.

Charitable activities

• Egmont is a commercial foundation. Part of the profit generated by the media business is distributed to charitable activities helping children and young people at risk and supporting film talent (through the Nordisk Film Foundation), while the remainder is reinvested in developing the media group.
• Egmont made donations of EUR 13m in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the year, including EUR 1m through the Nordisk Film Foundation. Since 1920, it has distributed a total of around EUR 449m in today’s money. The ambition is for all children and young people in 2030 to have been able to have an education – more specifically by reducing educational inequalities among children and young people and reducing the number dropping out.
• Egmont awarded EUR 4m to a refugee programme to help children, young people and families fleeing e.g. the war in Ukraine to get off to the best possible start in their new life in Scandinavia. As part of this, Egmont is supporting seven organisations in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
• Egmont has earmarked up to EUR 13m in the period 2022-25 for acute support for financially vulnerable children, young people and families. This support is awarded via selected partner organisations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
• The Nordisk Film Foundation sent 57 film talents out into the world through its travel grants during the year and supported important initiatives in areas such as the use of new technology in movie production.