Sanoma Corporation, Press release, 20 May 2020 at 14:45 EET
Finnish advertising market declined by 43% in April 2020, Sanoma outperformed the market
According to the market research published by Kantar TNS Finland today, the Finnish media advertising market declined by 42.8% in April (-38.2% excluding the impact of the Finnish and EU parliamentary elections held in spring 2019), whereas Sanoma's advertising sales (incl. the impact of elections) declined by 36.0% (-34.0% excl. the election impact). Finnish advertising market development by media group in groups relevant to Sanoma is presented in the table below.
Finnish advertising market development
| Media group | April 2020 | YTD April 2020 |
| Newspapers | -50.1% | -27.8% |
| Magazines | -18.2% | -12.2% |
| TV | -39.6% | -14.2% |
| Radio | -48.2% | -21.6% |
| Online * | -26.0% | -6.4% |
| Total | -42.8% | -18.0% |
* excl. search and social media
Source: Kantar TNS Oy
According to Kantar TNS, the decline in April was driven in particular by advertising of travel, cars, financial services and clothing. Advertising of telecom services and detergents grew. Advertising declined in all media groups and advertising types (brand advertising, retail advertising and classifieds).
During the beginning of the year, Sanoma has outperformed the market and thus increased its market share in TV and radio advertising, while in newspapers, magazines and online Sanoma's development has been broadly in-line with the market. In January-April 2020, Sanoma's advertising sales declined by 12.6% compared to a market decline of 18.0%.
As published earlier, Sanoma estimates that the corona virus pandemic will have significant impacts on its business during 2020. On 24 March, Sanoma temporarily withdrew its Outlook for 2020, which was given on 7 February, due to the corona virus pandemic. In the current continuously and rapidly evolving situation, it is too early to make reliable and specific estimates for an adjusted Outlook. Sanoma expects to give an updated Outlook for 2020 later during the year. Sanoma's long-term financial targets remain unchanged.
Additional information
Investors: Kaisa Uurasmaa, Head of Investor Relations and CSR, Sanoma Corporation, tel. +358 40 560 5601
Media: Hanna Johde, Communications Director, Sanoma Media Finland, tel. +358 40 673 8977
Sanoma
Sanoma is a front running learning and media company impacting the lives of millions every day. We enable teachers to excel at developing the talents of every child, provide consumers with engaging content, and offer unique marketing solutions to business partners.
Today, we have operations in ten countries including Finland, the Netherlands and Poland. Our net sales totalled EUR 900 million and we employed approx. 3,500 professionals in 2019. Sanoma shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. More information is available at www.sanoma.com.
