dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
dpa group continues its growth trajectory: 2018 turnover increased to 139.8 million euro
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On the occasion of its 70th anniversary, the German Press Agency (dpa) and its subsidiaries can today look back on a successful 2018 fiscal year, as the corporation was able to increase its turnover to 139.8 million euros (2017: 136.7), representing a growth rate of 2.3 per cent. The core company, dpa GmbH, generated 93 million euros (2017: 93.6) in turnover. Despite this marginal turnover drop in the core company, Germany's largest news agency was still able to generate an improved net profit of 1.5 million euros (2017: 1.2). The corporation had 1,191 employees at the end of the year, and a total of 179 shareholders.
"The numbers show that the dpa group is developing successfully under complex market conditions and is on the right strategic path," said Peter Kropsch, Chief Executive Officer at dpa. "We have been able to support our clients in becoming digital media companies and have provided the right products for this transformation. We have also expanded our business and governance divisions," Peter Kropsch added.
dpa's market shares in newspapers and its number of clients in both Germany and the world have been kept at a continuously high level. Whilst the newspaper industry continues to struggle with a decline in circulation, dpa was able to expand its turnover in the digital news sector, in business and communication solutions and in customized content creation.
"At a time when the work of journalists is becoming more and more difficult around the world, dpa represents a strong, independent and reliable voice, now more than ever," said dpa Editor-in-Chief, Sven Gösmann. "Our numerous initiatives in verification, data driven publishing and an improved training programme are paying off. We are consistently moving along the path towards becoming a modern, innovative and valuable agency for our clients," Sven Gösmann added.
dpa is working hard to ensure that the value and utility of its products continues to increase and to strengthen its clients' affiliation to the agency. This includes a long-term profile process that considers the concrete expectations dpa's content should fulfill and adjusts its coverage accordingly. Additionally, dpa's development project, Performing Content, which is conducted in collaboration with dpa clients, records what type of content binds readers to digital options, and what leads to more sales and subscriptions. Several collaborative efforts and joint development projects with German publishers have given important insights into the evolution of dpa products.
dpa's subsidiaries have provided important contributions to the success of the group, particularly news aktuell GmbH, which provides solutions to PR agencies and departments, picture alliance GmbH, which works in the picture market, and dpa-infocom GmbH, which provides digital content.
The group consists of dpa GmbH, eleven wholly-owned subsidiaries and ten partially-owned affiliates.
The German Press Agency is looking back on a fiscal year that involved multiple instances of strategic and forward-looking decision-making. The Spanish-language service is now in a stable economic position, which underlines the importance of the restructuring that was implemented at the end of 2018. The appointment of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) has accelerated the technological development of dpa and simplified coordination processes. The merger between Global Media Services GmbH (gms) and dpa-infocom has additionally simplified the dpa group's portfolio. By acquiring all shares in news aktuell (Schweiz) AG, the dpa group has invested in the future-oriented business of PR service provision.
dpa's 2018 annual report is focused around the agency's seventieth anniversary and the significance of the group's valuable journalistic heritage for the development of the company. The report also shows images of young employees from across the dpa group and some of the tools and artefacts from the agency's 70 years of history.
Digital version of the financial statement: https://annualreport2018.dpa.com
About dpa
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) was founded in 1949 and is one of the world's leading independent news agencies. dpa supplies media outlets, businesses and other organizations with editorial content, including text, photos, videos, graphics, audio and other formats. As an international agency, dpa reports in four languages: German, English, Spanish and Arabic. The company has around 1,000 journalists in 150 locations in Germany and abroad. Its shareholders are 179 German media companies. Staff work according to the principles outlined in the dpa statute: independently from ideologies, businesses and governments. The central editing desk, under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann, is located in Berlin. The management team, headed by President & CEO Peter Kropsch, is based in Hamburg. The Chairman of the Board is David Brandstätter (Main-Post GmbH, Würzburg).
Internet: www.dpa.com (German, English, Spanish, Arabic)
Social media: www.dpa.com/de/social-media
Press contact: German Press Agency dpa Jens Petersen Head of Corporate Communications phone: +49 40 4113 32843 pressestelle@dpa.com
