Media company Central Finn improved its operational operating profit from the comparison period. In July -December, comparable operative operating profit was EUR 0.8 million, compared with EUR 1.0 million at a loss.
“The operating environment was still very challenging, especially for media sales. As a result of the subdued media market, our media sales were 7.1 % for minus, but is a good performance compared to the general development of the industry, ”CEO Vesa-Pekka Kangaskorpi states in the bulletin.
Net sales were EUR 100 million, compared with EUR 99.6 million during the comparison period.
“The number of readers in our group’s products increased dramatically and the demand for our digital products was strong. The mobile applications introduced in 2024 significantly confirmed the competitiveness of our products. The purchase of news media Karjalainen and the local and city magazines and radio activities involved in the shop, we expanded our area of operation to North Karelia from April 2024, ”says Kangaskorpi, CEO.
According to Kangaskorvi, the company was integrated into the whole of the purchased media business. The impact of the Karelian and other media business acquired at the same time will be reflected in its entirety during 2025.
“During 2024, we made the result of Suomen Suoramainonta Oy to be clearly better, even though the result remained a loss. For 2025, we expect the distribution company to significantly improve the result and turn out to be profitable, ”says Kangaskorpi.
The Board of Directors of Central Finland proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.35 per share is paid for the financial year 2024. The Board of Directors also proposes that the General Meeting shall authorize the Board of Directors to decide on December 31, 2025 the additional dividend of up to EUR 0.20 per share.
The company believes that the turnover of 2025 for the financial year 2025 will increase from the level of the previous year and that the operational comparable operating profit will clearly improve from the 2024 level.
“We are on the basis of our renewed strategy and we are constantly enhancing our business with the aim of improving profit and profitability. We believe that our results will clearly improve in 2025 and will enable our operations to develop in the future and will enable a strong dividend policy to continue, ”says Kangaskorpi.