Egmont Publishing will double its revenue on e-commerce

Well-known titles, which in Denmark include both Euroman, ALT for damerne, Hjemmet and Eurowoman, are getting new family members in Egmont Publishing - they come from, among others, the new e-commerce companies that Egmont Publishing has invested in. The purpose is, among other things, to establish close collaboration with the magazines, says CEO of Egmont Publishing Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen:

"We have invested in a number of e-commerce companies with significant growth. Over the next three years, we expect the turnover of our e-commerce portfolio to be as big as the turnover of our magazine business, "he says, and emphasizes that the magazine business is still expected to yield the highest return.

The companies in which Egmont invests are growth companies, where the objective in the short term is to increase their sales significantly - significant earnings have a slightly longer perspective:

"Our ambition is that our e-commerce companies will be market leaders in the Nordic region within their respective niches within a few years. When that happens, they will also start making more money at the bottom line, "says Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen.

Egmont's e-commerce companies are located within five niche areas; parents / children with Jollyroom, kitchen and design with Backaren & Kokken and GoShopping, beauty with Nicehair.dk and Med24.dk as well as outdoor with Outnorth and Fjellsport. In 2017, the revenue of the portfolio will be around 1.7 billion DKK, says Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen:

"And our goal is to double that turnover over the next three years. This requires both organic growth and more acquisitions," he says.

Something new and big in 2018
The 1.7 billion DKK, however, cannot be read from the accounts of Egmont Publishing, which in 2016 had a turnover of almost 4 billion DKK. This is due to the fact, that Egmont has primarily bought minority interests in the e-commerce companies. But as Egmont, in some cases, will take the lead, 2018 offers something big according to Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen:  

"The news is that revenue will rise from 2018 making Egmont Publishing a growth business," he says.

Another track in Egmont Publishing's strategy is the investments in marketing services. They include provisional ownership interests in agencies such as Very Patchwork, s360, KAN, SEMPRO and the Swedish agency Ingager, which was the first investment of the year. This business area accounts for about seven percent of Egmont Publishing's turnover today - and the level is expected to continue, which requires growth, as e-commerce revenue will also contribute significantly.

However, the many readers of Egmont Publishing's magazines and weeklies in Denmark and abroad do not need to fear that the investments are at the expense of the titles:  

"Magazines is still a strong format that will continue to exist in future. You cannot put a magazine on a bus or anywhere else without someone picking it up. However, the number of loyal customers who buy a magazine every week or month will be fewer. At the same time the format has also shown that there is no problem in holding the overall number of readers, Torsten Bjerre Rasmussen said in an interview with MediaWatch. He also stressed that he has no expectations that the magazines and e-commerce companies will be tied further together organizationally:

"They will cooperate where it makes sense," states the CEO.