Record result for the owner of Norway’s new political online newspaper
Norway’s new political newspaper, Altinget, which opens its doors on Monday 3 October, continues to make money in Denmark. Their sister newspaper Altinget.dk, and incidentally the first newspaper under the Altinget banner, ended last year with record results. This is shown by the company’s accounting figures, which apply to the period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.
It emerges that the Danish online newspaper had an operating result before depreciation (EBITDA) of just under 16.7 million Danish kroner in 2021/22. It is the company’s biggest result since the start-up in 2000, and is approximately DKK 2.3 million greater than in the previous period.
– We are continuing our strategy of internationalization and increased profitability. We invest in new media, IT, digitization and new expertise, where in recent financial years we have experienced progress across the board, says Group CEO of the parent company Alrow Media, Christoph Nørgaardfor Campaign.
He is also the managing director of Altinget.dk.
Losing money on Norwegian investment
In Denmark, the companies are only required to report the gross profit, and it ends up at DKK 79.2 million for 2021/22. Gross profit is revenue minus cost of goods sold. Nørgaard does not want to state what Altinget.dk’s total turnover was.
– The sum we can see from results is that the strategy works, so it is of course satisfactory that we deliver the best result to date, says Nørgaard.
– How do you think the new Norwegian project will turn out in their accounts for next year?
– This year it has had a negative effect on the result from the Norwegian company, as we have only had costs. In the new financial year there will of course be revenue, but we also expect a negative impact here, replies Nørgaard.
– Passed reading target by a good margin
Editor-in-chief of the Norwegian venture, Veslemøy Østrem, don’t want to go out with high subscription sales and traffic after being on the air for a little over a uke. As you know, they have started five niche newspapers under the banner Altinget.no.
– We are overwhelmed by the response, and have met the readership targets we had set ourselves – by a good margin. We reach a large and varied group of readers, surprisingly many have already heard of us and are in the process of trial subscriptions, Østrem tells Kampanje.
She points out that they are now most concerned with å «build this newspaper in the long term».
– We must use the time to find our role and develop our journalism in good Altet tradition. It is also gratifying to have an owner who has good results and who chooses to use the profits to develop journalism in new areas, she concludes.
– We want it to go quickly
Owners company Alrow Media has previously stated that they are investing a double-digit number of Danish kroner in the new Norwegian venture Altinget.no. They also provide IT and HR equipment from Denmark.
– As previously mentioned, we are now fully focused on positioning the Altinget in Norway as the strongest political medium. Whether it takes three, five or seven years to achieve “Break even” is not decisive, as we are a long-term investor, but of course we achieve that things go quickly, continues Nørgaard.
Everything is also present in Sweden. It took approximately five years before it became profitable after the start-up in 2014, but in the last two years Altinget.se has had an accumulated deficit of SEK 9.3 million.
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