“It’s not that these powerhouses did badly, most media houses around the world would love to have their figures, but for who they are, the results were disappointing,” Philip Stone, of Followthemedia, wrote Tuesday.

Finland: SanomaWSOY

Helsinki-based Sanoma said fourth quarter profits that were 8.9 percent lower than the same period in 2006 were due to increased marketing costs and new product launches. The company owns newspapers (including flagship Helsingin Sanomat), television stations, a book publishing division, newsstands, movie theatres and a European magazine business. Of all its interests, newspapers and book publishing missed their marks last year, according to Followthemedia.

Sanoma said in a statement that it expects business to improve in 2008, noting that in Finland, the group's newspaper advertising sales grew faster than the market in 2007, and that online advertising sales continued to develop strongly.

However, circulation for Helsingin Sanomat was down to 419,762 in 2007, from 426,117 in 2006. Tabloid title Ilta Sanomat saw circulation drop to 176,385 in 2007, from 186,462 in 2006.

Meanwhile, online visitors to the titles' Web sites jumped. Weekly unique visitors to Iltasanomat.fi hit 1,200,705 in 2007, up from 770,209 in 2006. For Helsingin Sanomat's site, HS.fi, weekly unique visitors reached 882,531 in 2007, up from 565,157 in 2006, according to Sanoma's 2007 year-end statement.

Norway: Schibsted

Schibsted announced last week fourth quarter EBITA earnings of 247 million Norwegian crowns (€31 million), a 20 percent drop from the previous year, and below analysts' expectations, according to Followthemedia.

The media group reported in its preliminary annual results for Dec. 31, 2007 (released last week) that Schibsted Classified Media's online activities saw a good growth in revenue, yet revenues from print publications are declining.

Outside its home market, Schibsted's classified advertising business in Spain is seeing problems.

“The macroeconomic outlook in Spain has worsened. Schibsted will primarily notice this in the classified ads sector, especially in relation to the print editions,” the company said in a statement. “In Spain, Schibsted International Classifieds has experienced decreased demand for print advertisements and slightly decreased growth rate in the real estate online services in Q4 2007.”

With its Trader Classified business in Spain being restructured, job cuts and the restructuring will cost around 70 million crowns (€7.5 million), Followthemedia reported.

Schibsted's best-selling tabloid Verdens Gang reported a 349 million crown profit (€44 million) in 2003, with circulation of about 420,000. In 2007, profit slumped to 241 million crowns (€30.4 million), and circulation had dropped to 309,000.

“But although circulation dropped 26 percent in that period, those readers were not lost; instead they and many others flocked to VG’s web site in ever increasing numbers,” Followthemedia stated. “The Web site today is now Norway’s most read medium during the week,” seeing a 21 percent growth in revenue in 2007, and advertising sales up 32 percent.

Bridging the advertising gap as readers migrate from print to online won't be easy, as newspapers around the world experience the same situation, but the VG Web site now accounts for more than 32 percent of the newspaper's total revenue, “a figure far ahead of other newspapers around the world,” Followthemedia stated.

Sweden: Bonnier

The bright spot in the Nordic region is Bonnier AB, Sweden's top international media company. The privately-controlled company publishes newspapers, books, magazines and produces and distributes business information, television, music, radio and film.

In a press release on the company's Web site, Bonnier stated that sales reached MSEK 29.207 (€3.13 million) in 2007, up from MSEK 20.247 (€2.16 million) in 2006. Income before tax reached MSEK 2.425 (€257 million) in 2007, compared to MSEK 1.45 (€155 million) in 2006.

“The year was characterised by a few major acquisitions: the remaining portion of TV4 and MTV in Finland; purchase of Time4 Media and The Parenting Group in the U.S. and a consolidation of the publishing enterprises in the Nordic region: the merger between Cappelen and Damm in Norway and the sale of Bonnier Forlagene in Denmark,” according to the company statement, titled “A good year for Bonnier.”

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