Media group Egmont delivered revenue growth and slightly higher operating earnings in 2023 despite significantly higher costs and unfavourable currency movements.
Egmont recorded revenue of EUR 2,377m, EBITDA of EUR 284m and EBIT of EUR 84m in 2023. Revenue grew by EUR 74m, or 3%, but by 12% in local currency. This was the third consecutive year of revenue growth. Operating profit (EBIT) grew by 4%.
The year brought substantial cost inflation, a global decline in the production of computer games, films and series, a dwindling advertising market and considerable additional costs from the introduction of VAT on TV news in Norway. Egmont was also affected negatively by the depreciation of the Norwegian and Swedish currencies.
Despite these challenges in the market, Egmont had a good year in terms of its output of films, TV, computer games, books and magazines. TV 2’s streaming service in Norway reached record numbers of customers, licences at the educational publishers rose to their highest-ever levels, the digital agencies delivered strong results, and the computer games companies had more than 3.5m users per month on their own games, while e-commerce saw improved earnings in a challenged market.
“Egmont recorded revenue growth of EUR 74m and slightly higher operating profit in 2023 despite a general decline in the market, significantly higher costs and the introduction of VAT on our TV news,” says Egmont’s CEO, Steffen Kragh. ”All things considered, I am pleased with this performance. We are also making progress with digital subscription platforms such as TV 2 Play, school licences and book streaming, and we had numerous strong media productions – thanks to skilled and dedicated employees.”
Egmont continued its green transition. A solar plant in Denmark with Egmont as a co-investor began operating in 2023, and another in Sweden with Egmont as the sole investor will open in 2024. Together, the solar plants will cover approximately two-thirds of Egmont’s electricy consumption with renewable electricity, while the rest is covered by renewable electricity certificates.
Egmont is an enterprise foundation with a dual purpose. Profits are used partly to invest in the media business and partly to help vulnerable children and young people. Egmont’s charitable activities constituted nearly EUR 15m in 2023. The year also saw Egmont launch the signature project StayStrong to help seriously ill young people to complete their education and live a good youth life.
| Key figures (EURm) | 2023 | 2022 |
| Revenue | 2,377 | 2,303 |
| EBITDA | 284 | 256 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | 84 | 81 |
Further information:
Jesper Eising
Head of Press, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 29603019
[email protected]
Amanda Justesen
Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs
+45 29478526
[email protected]
Photos for media use: www.egmont.com/media-archive
TV 2
Revenue: EUR 637m (653m). Operating profit after result from associates *: EUR 16m (8m).
- TV 2 is Norway’s commercial public-service media house that delivers news, sports and entertainment through eight TV channels, Norway’s largest streaming service TV 2 Play and the news site TV2.no. TV 2 signed a new public-service contract with the Norwegian government during the year which runs until 2028.
- Revenue grew by 10% in local currency. Earnings doubled but was still below the average for previous years. In particular, the Norwegian government’s decision to impose VAT on TV news has been a challenge for TV 2, which carried out a substantial restructuring programme.
- TV 2 saw journalistic and programming success in 2023, including with the fourth season of reality show Celebrity Task Force. TV 2’s share of the commercial market rose to 54.4%, and its overall market share to 27.8%.
- 8m households now have access to TV 2 Play, which is included in all basic TV packages.
- no continued to grow during the year with increased advertising sales.
Nordisk Film
Revenue: EUR 729m (573m). Operating profit after result from associates *: EUR 37m (51m).
- Nordisk Film delivers entertainment and experiences with the emphasis on storytelling across multiple platforms.
- Revenue increased to a new record high and all business areas saw growth. Earnings were affected by write-downs on projects at the computer games companies, but also by restructuring costs in the film and computer games areas.
- Nordisk Film had a successful year at the box office with hits such as The Promised Land (produced by Zentropa) and The Land of Short Sentences in Denmark and Narvik in Norway. In Denmark, films produced in-house by Nordisk Film accounted for more than half of all cinema ticket sales for Danish films.
- Nordisk Film’s 46 cinemas in Denmark, Norway and Sweden put in a solid performance, with Oppenheimer and Barbie playing to full houses in July. However, both the number of movies and ticket sales were still lower than before Covid-19.
- Nordisk Games’ six computer games companies recorded revenue growth overall in 2023, with revenue at Supermassive Games fully consolidated following the acquisition of the remaining shares in 2022, but the global slowdown in games production affected profitability.
- Nordisk Interactive is behind PlayStation in the Nordic region and the Baltic States and saw strong demand for PlayStation 5.
Story House Egmont
Revenue: EUR 797m (853m). Operating profit after result from associates *: EUR 23m (31m).
- Story House Egmont has businesses in three areas: Media, E-commerce and Agencies.
- Revenue was on a par with 2022 in local currency due to strong market positions, while earnings were affected by inflation, rising costs and weaker consumer confidence.
- Story House Egmont has magazines and digital media in the Nordic region, Europe and a number of markets further afield. Media put in a solid performance overall, with particularly strong results in the Kids category but lower sales in the Consumer category. Cost reductions were made, especially in Norway, to mitigate the structural decline in the market.
- Story House Egmont’s six agencies continued previous years’ positive growth and delivered strong earnings.
- Story House Egmont’s nine wholly or partly owned e-commerce companies were boosted by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but saw a slowdown in 2022. In 2023, the trend was more positive again for most companies in the portfolio and earnings were improved.
Egmont Books
Revenue: EUR 217m (224m). Operating profit after result from associates *: EUR 16m (13m).
- Egmont Books comprises the Norwegian publishing house Cappelen Damm and the Danish publisher Lindhardt og Ringhof. Revenue grew by 4% in local currency, and earnings increased. Both publishers released a number of acclaimed and prize-winning books during the year.
- Cappelen Damm published more than 3,000 new titles in 2023 and was behind almost 40% of all books put out in Norway during the year. There was a slight decrease in revenue, due mainly to the education business, and earnings were also hit by a continued rise in costs for paper and printing.
- Lindhardt og Ringhof saw increased sales of books across markets and formats, with record revenue and increased EBIT. Educational publisher Clio, acquired in 2022, was fully consolidated. Digital publisher Saga Egmont acquired 13,000 new digital book rights and now has more than 130,000 digital book rights globally.
Egmont’s Grants
- Egmont is an enterprise foundation with a dual purpose. Part of the profit generated by the media business is distributed to charitable activities helping children and young people at risk and supporting film talent (through the Nordisk Film Foundation), while the remainder is reinvested in developing the media group.
- Egmont had charitable activities of nearly EUR 15m in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the year, including EUR 1m through the Nordisk Film Foundation. Since 1920, the Foundation has donated a total of around EUR 520m in today’s money. The ambition is for all children and young people to be able to complete their education and build a good life.
- Egmont launched a new signature programme, StayStrong, in 2023 to help seriously ill young people to complete their education and live a good youth life despite their illness.
- The Egmont Report 2023 highlighted the fact that one in seven schoolchildren in Denmark has math difficulties, with consequences for their education and later life.
- Egmont also provided emergency support for financially vulnerable children, young people and families during the year through selected partner organisations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
- The Nordisk Film Foundation sent 67 film talents out into the world through its travel grants during the year and supported important initiatives in areas such as the use of new technology in film production.
* Defined as EBIT plus result from associates and operational financial items.