AIM Group » Finland

Sanoma to exploit internal synergies

AIMGroup — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:26:37 +0000

Published September 15, 2011

Helsinki, Finland – Sep 15, 2011 (Thomson Reuters Press Release)

The Sanoma Group’s strategic business units in Finland – Sanoma Media Finland and Sanoma News – are to start extensive cooperation aimed at accelerating their growth by leveraging synergies between the two businesses.

A joint steering group will be established to manage and coordinate cooperation between Sanoma Media Finland and Sanoma News. The plan is to leverage synergies in customer relationships, content, and digital operations. The companies’ support functions will also be combined into centrally managed organisation. The organisational changes and appointments related to the new initiative will be effective as of 1 October this year.

“We want to consolidate Sanoma’s market leadership and solid profitability in the media field, strengthen our leading position in selected digital services, and offer our business customers the best multichannel partnerships for their marketing needs,” says Pekka Soini, CEO of Sanoma News.

“The reorganisation we are now implementing will play a very important part in achieving this goal,” Soini said.

“There are numerous potential areas where we can work closer together in the TV, newspaper, magazine, and digital products areas,” says Anu Nissinen, CEO of Sanoma Media Finland. “The new organisation will give us the opportunity to develop new products that cross the traditional boundaries between different media, both for consumers and our media customers. As the dynamic market leader in Finland, we have a unique chance to succeed here.”

Sanoma renews its organisation

AIMGroup — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:47:43 +0000

Published August 5, 2011

Stock Exchange Release 5/8/2011 8:15

Sanoma has decided to renew its structure and organisation to speed up digital transition and organic growth. In the future, Sanoma will focus on media and learning, and is currently looking into the possibility of divesting assets in the Trade division.

“Sanoma has built a strong, versatile media portfolio. We are market leaders in our key markets, both in consumer media and learning. Our strong brands and excellent content are loved by readers and viewers in over 20 countries. However, we see many declining trends in our markets and we need to change in order to address these trends and remain the preferred choice of our customer also in the future,” says Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, President and CEO of the Sanoma Group. “We are also seeking to increase our organic growth and improve our performance.”

During the spring, Sanoma already made a number of changes in its business portfolio. Another key element in the change process is the new organisational model. “Our new organisation will speed up our digital transition, increase customer insight, foster innovation and improve the efficiency of our processes. We are also building strong, international competence centres to ensure the best possible allocation of resources globally,” Kaukonen continues.

The new organisation will consist of seven strategic business units: Sanoma News, Sanoma Media Finland (former Sanoma Magazines Finland and Sanoma Entertainment), Sanoma Media Netherlands, Sanoma Media Russia & CEE, Sanoma Media Belgium, Sanoma Learning (former Sanoma Learning & Literature) and Sanoma Trade. Two new corporate functions will be established. These new operations, Digital Operations and Customer Market Operations, work in very close cooperation with the business units and their purpose is to align the Group’s efforts in digital operations and improve customer insight and process efficiency within Sanoma. The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is responsible for the development of an integrated digital offering as well as identifying new opportunities and executing them. The Customer Market Officer (CMO) will develop Sanoma’s strategic marketing processes and ensure the development of superior consumer and advertiser understanding. The new organisation will be in force as of 1 September 2011. The name of Sanoma Learning & Literature will change by the end of September.

Executive Management Group

As of 1 September, Sanoma’s Executive Management Group (EMG) will comprise:

-  Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, President and CEO of the Sanoma Group, chairman of the EMG
-  Jacqueline Cuthbert, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
-  Jacques Eijkens, head of Sanoma Learning
-  Koos Guis, head of Sanoma Media Russia & CEE (acting)
-  Kim Ignatius, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
-  John Martin, Chief Digital Officer (CDO)
-  Dick Molman, head of Sanoma Media Netherlands
-  Anu Nissinen, head of Sanoma Media Finland
-  Pekka Soini, head of Sanoma News
-  Aimé Van Hecke, head of Sanoma Media Belgium
-  Customer Market Officer (CMO), which will be appointed later.

“I’m very pleased to have this great team in place to work with. The new organisation and the corporate culture that we are starting to build are important building blocks in transforming Sanoma to meet the changes in the consumer media and learning markets, just like our recent acquisitions have been,” Kaukonen says.

Eija Ailasmaa, current President & CEO of Sanoma Media, will retire according to her contract by the end of the year. “I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Eija. She has a fantastic career in the Group, and has had a key role in building Sanoma Media since the magazine acquisition in 2001,” Kaukonen praises.

Hellevi Kekäläinen will continue as head of Sanoma Trade.

Reporting structure

This organisation change does not affect the operating segments used in Sanoma’s financial reporting. The four operating segments will be Media, News, Learning and Trade. Media comprises the following strategic business units: Sanoma Media Netherlands, Sanoma Media Finland, Sanoma Media Russia & CEE and Sanoma Media Belgium. News comprises e.g. the Group’s Finnish newspaper and online classified operations. Learning comprises the Group’s learning as well as language services operations and Trade is responsible for retail operations. Also Sanoma’s Cash generating units (CGUs) will remain as before.

Sanoma Corporation

Kim Ignatius
Chief Financial Officer

Additional information:
Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, President and CEO, Sanoma Corporation tel. +358 105 19 5021
Sanoma’s Investor Relations: Kare Laukkanen tel. +358 105 19 5064 and Anna Tuominen tel. +358 105 19 5066 or ir@sanoma.com

Appendix: Sanoma’s organisation structure as of 1 September 2011

Sanoma.com

Sanoma inspires, informs and connects. As a diversified media group, we bring information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people every day. We make sure that quality content and interesting products and services are easily available and meet the demands of our readers, viewers and listeners. We offer a challenging and interesting working environment for nearly 20,000 people in over 20 countries throughout Europe. In 2010, the Group’s net sales totalled EUR 2.8 billion.

Sanoma organisation 010911

Sanoma lowers full-year outlook for sales in 2011

AIMGroup — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:12:37 +0000

Published August 2, 2011

Sanoma lowered its outlook for full-year net sales and operating profit excluding non-recurring items in 2011.

Sanoma is a diversified media group, which brings information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people every day. Sanoma offers a working environment for nearly 20,000 people in over 20 countries throughout Europe.

In 2010 the Group’s net sales totalled €2.8 billion.

Sanoma Group’s net sales are now expected to stay at the previous year’s level and operating profit excluding non-recurring items is expected to decrease somewhat in 2011. In 2010 operating profit excluding non-recurring items was €245.4 million. Previously, Sanoma estimated that its net
sales would increase somewhat and its operating profit, excluding non-recurring items, would improve slightly.

The change in guidance is based on a month later than estimated closing of the SBS acquisition, investments in the Group’s development programmes during the spring and the weakened outlook of the magazine business in Finland.

Sanoma’s net sales and operating profit in 2011 are affected by the development of advertising and private consumption in the Group’s countries of operation. The current outlook is based on the assumption that advertising markets in
the Group’s main operating countries will grow somewhat in 2011.

Sanoma will provide more details when it publishes its Q2 2011 results on 5 August 2011.

Sanoma Corporation

Kim Ignatius
Chief Financial Officer

This announcement was distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

TS Group, Kaleva Oy and Mediahouse ESA Group buying shares in Oikotie Oy

AIMGroup — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 05:19:59 +0000

Published June 2, 2011

TS Group, Kaleva Oy and Mediahouse ESA Group buying shares in Oikotie Oy

Sanoma News Oy, TS Group, Kaleva Oy and Mediahouse ESA Group are consolidating their collaboration with regard to market place business operations. Sanoma News is selling 10 per cent ownership of Oikotie Oy to TS Group, and 8 per cent and 7 per cent ownership to Kaleva and Mediahouse ESA Group, respectively.

“The transaction represents our goal of reinforcing the nationwide market position of Oikotie.fi by broadening ownership to include some of Oikotie’s most important cooperative partners. Oikotie’s growth is already strong and the collaboration allows us to further accelerate the rate of growth,” says Pekka Soini, President of Sanoma News.

TS Group’s Turun Sanomat and Mediahouse ESA Group’s Etelä-Suomen Sanomat have been involved in the establishment and development of Oikotie since the beginning. Cooperation with Kaleva began in 2009. The newspapers work in close sales cooperation with Oikotie.

The arrangement’s objective is to serve Oikotie’s customers in the best possible way.

“Local visibility is particularly important with regard to the property and housing market and car sales, not to mention recruitment ads. This partnership gives us better starting points for building up Oikotie’s local brand presence,” says Jukka Haapainen, Managing Director of Kaleva Oy.

Oikotie.fi is the leading housing, car and job advertising site in Finland, reaching more than 400,000 unique visitors a week.

More information: Pekka Soini, President, Sanoma News, tel. +358 (0)9 122 2000 Jaakko Ketonen, Executive Vice President, TS Group, tel. +358 (0)50 64692 Jukka Haapalainen, Managing Director, Kaleva, tel. +358 (0)400 450 671 Jukka Ottela, Chief Executive Officer, Mediahouse ESA Group, tel. +358 (0)44 7360202

Sanoma News is the leading newspaper publisher in Finland, and its products in both print and digital format have a strong presence in the lives of their readers. Sanoma News is part of the Sanoma Group, a strong European media group operating in diverse fields of media in 20 countries.

________________________________

www.sanomanews.com

Talentum Re-Launches Finnish Recruiting Site Powered by Adicio

AIMGroup — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:24:28 +0000

Talentum Re-Launches Uratie.Fi Powered by Adicio

CARLSBAD, CA, USA/HELSINKI, FINLAND/AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (March 8, 2011) – Adicio Inc http://www.adicio.com., the leading provider of interactive classified advertising software solutions for media companies, today announced that its client, European publisher Talentum, has re-launched its careers site, Uratie.fi. This is the first Adicio-powered careers site in Finland.

Uratie.fi http://www.uratie.fi/ (www.uratie.fi) is the joint recruiting service for all of Talentum’s Finnish media. Uratie was first launched in 2000 and caters to engineers, graduates and IT professionals with editorial content that focuses on changes in working life, recruitment protocol, personal success stories and book reviews. A printed Uratie supplement is included in the Tekniikka & Talous and Tietoviikko magazines and is incorporated into the Talouselämä magazine.

The main goals for the site’s redesign were to improve search so job seekers can find relevant jobs more easily; improve the site experience for both job seekers and recruiters; enable Talentum’s ability to partner and cross-post with other sites; provide a global account system so members can seamlessly access their careers tools and reporting with a single sign-on; create advertising products and packages geared specifically for the Nordic market; and to leap ahead of their competitors.

Talentum (www.talentum.com) was able to achieve these goals by reforming their online recruitment products into a single entity, enabling them to efficiently and effectively service their diverse clientele. With the addition of advanced marketing and recruitment tools and services, the site can target both educated job seekers and HR professionals, and employers across Finland. Talentum’s ultimate goal was to create a robust recruitment site that not only gave job seekers effective job search tools, but also gave employers tools that would help elevate the visibility for their job postings while simplifying the candidate search process. In a single transaction, employers can advertise their positions on Uratie.fi while also opting to include their listings on 10 targeted publishing brands of Talentum.

“We wanted to create a site that covered all aspects of recruitment from both a job seeker perspective as well as an HR professional,” said Mr. Janne Muhonen, Director at Talentum. “Adicio was able to help facilitate our objectives and deliver a site that is unparalleled in Finland while keeping our costs low.”

Job seekers on Uratie.fi can search custom job categories including Energia (Energy); Johtotehtävät (Managerial Functions); Julkishallinto & järjestöt (Public Administration & Organizations); Lääketiede/farmasia (Medical/Pharmaceutical); Myynti (Sales); Ohjelmointi/ohjelmistot (Programming/Software); Projektin johtotehtävät (Project Management Positions); Suunnittelu (Planning); Tekniikka (Technology); Terveydenhuolto (Health Care); Tietohallinto (Information Management); and much more.

“Talentum was looking for a partner that could supply them with products and services to drive traffic and generate additional online revenue while providing the Finnish market with robust recruitment tools,” said Bridget Scanlan, Director of European Markets at Adicio http://www.adicio.com. “By joining Adicio’s large network of market-leading recruitment clients and partners, Talentum now has a platform that can scale as technological advances become available, enabling them to stay ahead of their competitors. ”

*About Talentum *Talentum (www.talentum.com) is a publisher and information provider focusing on the professional sector. Talentum has specialized in media directed towards the technical, economic, personnel-management and legal professions as well as online and information services. In addition, Talentum publishes law and business books, organises topical seminars and events, and arranges training in professional skills. Talentum’s operations also include direct marketing as a distribution channel supporting its publishing business. Talentum has offices in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Baltic States and Russia. Talentum Oyj’s shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy.

Contact: Mrs. Raija Palomäki Manager, Corporate Communications Raija.Palomaki@talentum.fi +358 20 442 4221

*About Adicio, Inc. *Adicio (www.adicio.com) develops interactive classified advertising software solutions for the careers, real estate, and motors markets, which serve the Internet’s leading media companies and web portals. With its award-winning technology and enterprise-class software platforms, domain expertise, and customer service, Adicio delivers a private-label application that seamlessly integrates within online classified advertising offerings, enabling clients to generate revenue and retain their brand while building and managing their online classified efforts. Clients can deploy Adicio’s software as a turnkey solution or customize Adicio’s application to leverage existing brand strategy and support online sales and marketing objectives. Adicio also powers CareerCast.com http://www.careercast.com/, a job search portal and JobsRated.com http://www.jobsrated.com/, where 200 jobs across North America are ranked based on detailed analysis of specific careers factors. For more information, please visit www.adicio.com, or call +31 (0)20 894 6014, 760.602.9502 or 800.276.1332.

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Media Contact: Beth Brody

Brody PR (for Adicio)

609.397.3737

Beth@BrodyPR.com

Alma Media’s Financial Statements, the Report by the Board of Directors and the Auditor’s Report 2010 published

AIMGroup — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:03:55 +0000

/Published: 09:00 CET 24-02-2011 /Thomson Reuters /Source: Alma Media Oyj /XHEL: ALN1V /ISIN: FI0009013114 / *Alma Media’s Financial Statements, the Report by the Board of Directors and the Auditor’s Report 2010 published*

Alma Media CorporationStock Exchange ReleaseFebruary 24, 2011 at 10.00 (EET)

ALMA MEDIA’S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, THE REPORT BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE AUDITOR’S REPORT 2010 PUBLISHED

Alma Media has published its financial statements, the Report by the Board of Directors and the Auditor’s report for the financial year 2010. The documents are attached to this release and are also available at www.almamedia.fi/agm_2011 http://www.almamedia.fi/agm_2011.

Alma Media’s Annual Review 2010 will be published in week 9, 2011.

ALMA MEDIA CORPORATION Tuomas Itkonen CFO

For further information, please contact: Alma Media Corporation, Tuomas Itkonen, tel. +358 10 665 2244

Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, main media

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 2,800 professionals. The company’s net sales in 2010 totalled MEUR 311.4 with an operating margin of 13.9 per cent. Alma Media’s share (ALN1V) is listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Exchange. Read more at www.almamedia.fi http://www.almamedia.fi/

Attachment: Alma Media’s Financial Statements, Report by the Board of Directors and the Auditor’s Report

Alma Media’s Financial Statements, Report by the Board of Directors and the Auditor’s Report http://hugin.info/3000/R/1491977/427749.pdf

Posted in Finland

Alma Media: Revenue and operating profit grew in 2010, dividend proposal 0,70 EUR per share

AIMGroup — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:47:56 +0000

/Published: 07:59 CET 16-02-2011 /Thomson Reuters /Source: Alma Media Oyj /XHEL: ALN1V /ISIN: FI0009013114 / *Alma Media’s Financial statement release 2010: Revenue and operating profit grew in 2010, dividend proposal 0,70 EUR per share*

Alma Media Corporation Financial statement release February 16, 2011 at 9:00am (EET)

ALMA MEDIA’S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE 2010: Revenue and operating profit grew in 2010, dividend proposal 0,70 EUR per share Continue reading →

Posted in Finland