Cutbacks Pay Off for Schibsted in Q3

Schibsted, the Norwegian media company behind leading Spanish real estate portal fotocasa.es as well as a number of other jobs and classifieds websites, has released its financial results for the third quarter of 2009.

Over the three months to 30 September, Schibsted’s operating revenues increased by 10 percent to NOK 3.27 billion, however its underlying growth rate for advertising revenues was down seven percent compared to the same period in 2008.

The company’s operating profit jumped 52 percent to NOK 303 million, which was due to what Schibsted calls “a significant contribution” from its profitability program as well as “continued growth in online activities”.

Schibsted’s profitability program involved cutting 650 employees in the first nine months of 2009. Its media monitoring, archives and analysis subsidiary, Retriever, was sold off during the third quarter, and the company has also begun proceedings to sell off its Trykk newspaper printing plant Oslo and its shareholing in mobile entertainment company Aspiro AB.

Schibsted’s report did not go into detail about fotocasa.es’s performance for the quarter, but said classified website finn.no’s real estate advertising revenues rose by 10 percent.

“All in all, it is a satisfactory result…we have been able to control our costs,” reuters.com quotes chief executive Rolv Rystdal as saying. “The crisis is not over, and we need to increase our revenues in the longer term.”

1. Schibsted’s Recovery Continues

   Norwegian media company Schibsted, which is behind leading Spanish real estate portal fotocasa.es as well as a number of other jobs and classifieds websites, has reported increases in revenue and profits in the fourth quarter of 2009. After an improved third quarter, the company's pretax profit reached NOK 168 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to a pretax loss of NOK 2.094 billion in 2008. Schibsted says this is partially due to the success of its profitability program, which involved cutting 800 employees....

2. Schibsted Flourishes Online

   Norwegian media giant Schibsted has reported that classifieds and directories are its fastest growing channel and has great international online growth opportunities....

3. fotocasa.es App Alerts Property Hunters

   Spanish portal fotocasa.es has released an iPhone application it says offers a unique service to property hunters: as well as allowing users to search for property, the application also sends them alerts when a property matching their search criteria comes on the market. ...

4. Will Ad Revenue Drop for US Property Websites?

   The results of the Internet Advertising Revenue Report, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), will be met with some anxiety by property portals and websites....

5. New CEO for finn.no

   Norwegian media giant Schibsted has appointed Christian Printzell Halvorsen as the new CEO of its classifeds website, finn.no....