Finnish advertising market declined by 15% in August 2020, Sanoma continued to outperform the market

Sanoma Corporation, Press release, 23 September 2020 at 16:20 EET

Finnish advertising market declined by 15% in August 2020, Sanoma continued to outperform the market

According to the market research published by Kantar TNS Finland today, the Finnish media advertising market declined by 14.6% in August, whereas Sanoma’s comparable advertising sales declined by 8.8%. Sanoma’s development includes the comparable advertising sales development of the regional news media business acquired on 30 April and excludes the development of Oikotie divested on 16 July.

In January-August 2020, Sanoma’s comparable advertising sales declined by 17.9% compared to a market decline of 22.8%. During January-August Sanoma outperformed the market and increased its market share in TV and radio advertising, while in newspapers, magazines and online Sanoma’s development has been broadly in-line with the market.

Finnish advertising market development by media group in groups relevant to Sanoma is presented in the table below.

Finnish advertising market development

* excl. search and social media
Source: Kantar TNS Oy

According to Kantar TNS, the decline in August was driven in particular by advertising of travel and transport, vehicles, food and drugs. Advertising of office supplies and clothing grew. Advertising continued to decline in all media groups and advertising types (brand advertising, retail advertising and classifieds).

As published earlier, Sanoma estimates that the corona virus pandemic will have significant impacts on its business during 2020. On 24 March, Sanoma temporarily withdrew its Outlook for 2020, which was given on 7 February, due to the corona virus pandemic. In the current continuously and rapidly evolving situation, it is too early to make reliable and specific estimates for an adjusted Outlook. Sanoma expects to give an updated Outlook for 2020 later during the year. Sanoma’s long-term financial targets remain unchanged.

Additional information
Investors: Kaisa Uurasmaa, Head of Investor Relations and CSR, Sanoma Corporation, tel. +358 40 560 5601
Media: Hanna Johde, Communications Director, Sanoma Media Finland, tel. +358 40 673 8977

Sanoma

Sanoma is an innovative and agile learning and media company impacting the lives of millions every day.

Our learning products and services enable teachers to develop the talents of every child to reach their full potential. We offer printed and digital course materials as well as digital learning and teaching platforms for primary, secondary and vocational education, and want to grow our business across Europe.

Our Finnish media provide independent journalism and engaging entertainment also for generations to come. Our unique cross-media position offers the widest reach and tailored marketing solutions for our business partners.

Today, we operate in eleven European countries and employ close to 4,500 professionals. In 2019, our net sales totalled 900m€ and our operational EBIT margin excl. PPA was 14.8%. Sanoma shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. More information is available at www.sanoma.com.