Alma Media Corporation Interim Report 25 April 2025 at 8.00 a.m.
ALMA MEDIA'S INTERIM REPORT JANUARY-MARCH 2025: Adjusted operating profit increased by 6.6%, led by the Alma Marketplaces segment
Financial performance January- March 2025:
- Revenue MEUR 79.2 (76.2), up 4.0%.
- The share of digital business was 83.9% (82.9%) of revenue.
- Adjusted operating profit MEUR 17.2 (16.1), 21.7% (21.2%) of revenue.
- Operating profit MEUR 16.6 (15.0), up 10.7%.
- Alma Career: Revenue was on a par with the comparison period; adjusted operating profit decreased due to development costs.
- Alma Marketplaces: Revenue growth, both organic and acquisition-driven, significantly strengthened profitability.
- Alma News Media: The development of profitability remained strong.
- Earnings per share EUR 0.14 (0.13).
| Key figures | ||||
| MEUR | 2025 Q1 | 2024 Q1 | Change % | 2024 Q1-Q4 |
| Classified | 31.1 | 30.2 | 2.8 | 122.2 |
| Advertising | 13.8 | 14.7 | -5.5 | 60.0 |
| Digital services * | 15.7 | 12.9 | 21.9 | 56.5 |
| Content | 12.7 | 12.6 | 0.6 | 50.6 |
| Other * | 5.8 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 23.3 |
| Digital business revenue | 66.4 | 63.1 | 5.3 | 263.4 |
| Digital business, % of revenue | 83.9 | 82.9 | 84.2 | |
| Adjusted total expenses | 62.0 | 60.1 | 3.2 | 236.2 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 21.6 | 20.2 | 6.8 | 94.0 |
| EBITDA | 21.0 | 19.1 | 10.0 | 91.0 |
| Adjusted operating profit | 17.2 | 16.1 | 6.6 | 76.9 |
| % of revenue | 21.7 | 21.2 | 24.6 | |
| Operating profit/loss | 16.6 | 15.0 | 10.7 | 73.4 |
| % of revenue | 21.0 | 19.7 | 23.5 | |
| Profit for the period before tax | 14.4 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 67.0 |
| Profit for the period | 11.2 | 10.8 | 3.0 | 52.6 |
CEO's review: Marketplaces accelerating growth
Alma Media's business developed favourably in the first quarter. Supported by acquisitions, revenue increased by 4.0% to MEUR 79.2. Adjusted operating profit increased by 6.6% to MEUR 17.2, representing 21.7% of revenue. The share of digital business was 83.9% of revenue. The Group's advertising sales decreased by 5.5%.
Our financial position strengthened: our gearing at the end of Q1 stood at 54.4% (59.8%) and our equity ratio was 50.5% (46.3%).
The demand for durable consumer goods picked up in the first quarter in the Finnish market, which supported revenue growth. Interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank have contributed to improving consumers' opportunities to make purchases of durable consumer goods. Global economic volatility, import tariffs and resulting potential difficulties in international trade may influence market development going forward.
We accelerated our investments in the development of our services particularly in the Career and Marketplaces segments
In the Alma Career segment, revenue remained on a par with the comparison period at MEUR 26.7. Adjusted operating profit decreased by 5.9% to MEUR 9.8, representing 36.6% of revenue. In local currencies, revenue decreased by 1.2% and adjusted operating profit decreased by 6.3%. In the first quarter, invoicing in local currencies increased by 1.9% (Q1/2024: -4.9%). The segment's profitability was reduced by costs related to the development of the common job platform, as well as increased labour costs in the primary countries of operation.
Among the segment's operating countries, the employment situation continued to be good in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and, as a result, the demand for labour remained stable. As in the previous quarter, recruitment increased in the small and medium-sized customer segments, but the segment consisting of larger customers also showed the first signs of growth in spite of the prevailing uncertainty. Activity in the job market also remained good in Croatia, and the number of unemployed people again decreased year-on-year. In the Baltic countries and Finland, the market situation remained difficult. The revenue of the Career North area decreased by 12.2%, while other areas remained on a par with the comparison period.
The revenue of the Alma Marketplaces segment grew by 17.5% to MEUR 26.9, driven by the Edilex and Netwheels acquisitions. Organic revenue growth was 8.9%. Adjusted operating profit increased by 26.4% to MEUR 7.4 and was 27.5% of revenue. Expenses increased by 14.5% due to acquisitions. In spite of the subdued market conditions, we continued to implement our development projects, particularly in digital services related to the automotive and housing verticals, focusing on the development of transactional business and AI-assisted technology. Revenue from the Mobility business area increased by 14.3% to MEUR 8.8. Excluding the effect of acquisitions and divestments, revenue increased by 3.4%. Revenue from the Real Estate business area increased by 20.3% to MEUR 10.1. There were positive signals of a recovery in the housing market, especially with regard to the number of transactions for old dwellings.
The Alma News Media segment's revenue decreased by 2.7% to MEUR 25.8. Active cost control measures led to adjusted expenses decreasing by 4.8% and adjusted operating profit increasing by 17.3% to MEUR 3, representing 11.6% of revenue. The segment's advertising revenue decreased by 4.3%. Interest in the news remained at a high level as the global tariff war escalated, and digital content revenue grew by 12.0%. In addition, the IPO market of the Helsinki Stock Exchange finally began to show signs of life. The number of digital subscriptions currently stands at just over 213,000. The share of digital business increased to 60.5% of revenue. The amount of video content was increased for Kauppalehti, and video solutions were developed further.
AI is developing quickly - we utilise its potential as a pioneer
We make purposeful investments in competence and technology in order to respond to the changing needs of our customers and partners. Our strategy focuses on the continuous development, growth and scaling of business operations by taking advantage of the latest AI technology.
Alma has dozens of AI-based projects under way with the aim of improving the efficiency of processes, complementing existing services with intelligent features, and introducing completely new AI-based business concepts to the market.
The adoption of generative AI is progressing rapidly across all of our businesses. Good examples of this include the "Ask Iltalehti" feature and the "Search with your own words" feature of the Etuovi.com application, which are already available as beta services.
Kai Telanne
President and CEO
Operating environment
In its most recent economic forecast (11/2024), the European Commission projects economic growth of 1.5% in the EU for 2025. The Commission further expects inflation to slow to 2.4%. The Commission estimates that the unemployment rate for the EU as a whole will fall to 5.9% from last year's level of 6.1%.
For Finland, the Commission projects growth of 1.5% for this year, which would mean faster growth than last year. Inflation is expected to be 2.0% and the forecast for the unemployment rate is 7.9%.
In addition to Finland, Alma Media's main markets are the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Eastern Central Europe, and Croatia in Southern Europe. The Commission estimates that the rate of GDP growth will increase from 1.0% last year to 2.4% this year in the Czech Republic and from 2.2% to 2.3% in Slovakia. For Croatia, the Commission's forecast indicates a slowing of GDP growth from 3.6% to 3.3%. The Commission's unemployment rate projections for this year are 2.7% for the Czech Republic, 5.3% for Slovakia and 4.7% for Croatia.
Alma's main operating countries are dependent on foreign trade. Risks related to global trade policy and geopolitics have increased, and uncertainty in expectations has grown, which may be reflected in economic development. In Finland, the outlook is cautious, and the economy is expected to turn around slowly.
The markets expect the ECB to continue its interest rate cuts this year. It is expected that the price of financing will gradually fall, supporting household purchases of durable consumer goods and the willingness of companies to invest. Housing construction is expected to recover slowly.
Outlook for 2025
Alma Media expects its full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit of 2025 to remain at the 2024 level. The full-year revenue for 2024 was MEUR 312.7 and the adjusted operating profit was MEUR 76.9.
Background for the outlook
The outlook is based on the estimate that the national economies in the company's main market areas will pick up, but uncertainty in the markets will continue. Fluctuations in the global economy may affect the development of the markets.
The period of slow growth in Finland is expected to continue, and advertising is still subject to uncertainty. Acquisitions support the development of the Group's turnover and operating profit. The diversification of the Group's business activities between multiple geographical markets and business areas, and purposeful cost control, will stabilise the company's outlook even in challenging market conditions.
Market situation in the main markets in Finland
Market development in the automotive industry
According to statistics provided by the Finnish Information Centre of the Automobile Sector, the market for new passenger cars remained subdued in the first quarter: first registrations of new passenger cars in Finland decreased by 9.5% year-on-year. At the same time, sales of used cars increased by 7.2%, including cars sold by dealerships to their customers and consumer-to- consumer car sales.
Market development in housing
According to the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies, the housing transaction volume in Finland in January-March 2025 was 23.7% higher, and the transaction volume for old dwellings was 26.3% higher, than in the comparison period, which was historically slow.
Market development in the media business
According to Kantar TNS, the media advertising volume in January-March 2025 decreased by 3.4% when compared to the comparison period. The industries with the largest increases in media advertising were food, finance and cosmetics, while the construction sector, oil and energy and retail had the largest decreases in media advertising.
More information:
Kai Telanne, President and CEO, tel. +358 (0)10 665 3500
Taru Lehtinen, CFO, tel. +358 (0)10 665 3609
News conference and live webcast
Alma Media will publish its Interim Report for 1 January-31 March 2025 on Friday, 25 April 2025 approximately at 8.00 EEST. An analyst and investor webcast will be held in English by President & CEO Kai Telanne and CFO Taru Lehtinen starting at 11.00 am.
The conference will be held in the Alma House (address: Alvar Aallon katu 3 C, Helsinki). To participate in the conference in Alma House, we kindly ask you to register beforehand by e-mail to: kutsut@almamedia.fi.
The live webcast can be followed via https://almamedia.events.inderes.com/q1-2025/register. Questions can be asked through the webcast chat function.
An on-demand version of the webcast and the presentation material will be available on the company's website on the same day www.almamedia.fi/en/investors/reports-and-presentations/presentations.
Alma Media's financial calendar 2025
- Interim Report for January-June 2025 on Thursday, 17 July 2025, at approximately 12:00 EET
- Interim Report for January-September 2025 on Friday, 31 October 2025 at approximately 8:00 EET
ALMA MEDIA CORPORATION
Board of Directors
Distribution: NASDAQ Helsinki, main media, www.almamedia.fi/en
Alma Media in brief
Alma Media is an international company of digital media, marketplaces and services with a strong capacity for renewal. We inspire human curiosity and choice by creating services that combine technology and content with a local heart. In Finland, our best-known brands include Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Iltalehti, Jobly, Etuovi.com, Nettiauto and Nettimoto. Our recruitment services include prace.cz and jobs.cz in the Czech Republic, Profesia.sk in Slovakia and mojposao.net in Croatia.
In Finland, our business operations include leading housing and automotive marketplaces, financial and professional media, national consumer media and content and data services for businesses and professionals. Alma Media's international business in Eastern Central Europe, Sweden and the Baltic countries consists of recruitment services and an online marketplace for commercial properties.
Alma Media operates in 11 countries in Europe and employs approximately 1,700 professionals. Alma Media's revenue from continuing operations was EUR 313 million in 2024 of which the share of digital business was 84%. Alma Media's share is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.fi/en/.
