Corriere, 508,000 digital subscribers – Corriere.it

32.3% leap for subscriptions to the Corriere della Sera, which reached 508 thousand – steadily above half a million since November – a total active customer base that compares with the 457 thousand of a year ago. The newspaper in via Solferino confirms its leadership also on newsstands, while the digital customer base of pay products Journal at the end of 2022 it more than doubled to 171,000 season tickets. The 2022 accounts approved yesterday by the board of directors show how Rcs MediaGroup, chaired by Urbano Cairo, continues to grow, confirming itself again last year in Italy as the first online publisher, with an aggregate figure of 31.4 million average monthly unique users. Digital subscriptions are also growing strongly in Spain: 101,000 per El Mundo and 51 thousand for Expansion. Numbers that supported consolidated revenues of 845 million, stable compared to 2021, with digital revenues at 24.5% (23% in 2021) which brought the incidence of online advertising revenues to 43.1% of the total.

Good margins

Rcs continues to generate cash flows despite the high uncertainty associated with the war in Ukraine and inflation. The gross operating margin (ebitda) was positive for 118.5 million compared to the previous 144 because it discounted non-recurring net charges for 12.1 million, including the most significant component, equal to 10 million, represented by the closing of the transaction historic building in via Solferino returned to the ownership of the group. Rcs MediaGroup in 2022 also had to deal with the increase in the cost of raw materials such as paper. Net profit of 50.1 million which is down compared to 72.4 million in 2021, when RCS had benefited from a 9.5 million capital gain on the sale of Unidad Editorial Juegos.

The historic site

The positive picture has allowed the board chaired by Cairo to propose a dividend of 6 cents, equal to that of 2021, which will be voted on by the shareholders’ meeting to be held on 8 May. At the end of 2022, the net financial position was negative for €31.6 million, mainly due to the purchase of via Solferino for €59.9 million and the distribution of dividends for €31 million, which compares with the contribution from ordinary operations, equal to 80 million.

The outlook for 2023

Looking back to this year, the group believes that it is possible to target highly positive margins, up on 2022, and to continue with further cash generation from operating activities. Rcs is also focusing on expanding the information and training offer of Rcs Academy. Other events that drive growth include Objective 5-gender equality, Civil Week, State-of-the-art food, Italy Generates the Future, Women’s time, Women in Food, Health time.