RCS MediaGroup is an international multimedia group that produces daily newspapers, magazines, books, radio broadcasting, new media, digital and satellite TV. Forty percent of sales are generated outside Italy, with a significant presence in Spain, Portugal, France, the US, and China. RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. is listed on the Blue Chip segment of the Italian Stock Exchange (ISIN code: ordinary shares IT0003039010, saving shares IT0003039028).

Book publishing is done by RCS Libri, which is wholly owned by RCS MediaGroup.

RCS Libri includes the imprints Rizzoli, Bompiani, BUR, Sonzogno, Fabbri, Adelphi, Marsilio, Lizard, and RL. RCS Libra holds a joint venture with the Mauri Spagnol Group in the super-economical market, Log607 in applications, and Mach 2 in large retail and e-book distribution.

The Company is also active in the school and professional publishing (Fabbri, ETAS, Nuova Italia, Sansoni, Bompiani, Tramontana, Oxford, Hachette, Edinumen, Calderini, Edagricole, and Markes), legal publishing (La Tribuna), reference (Sansoni), and collections Italy and abroad through Fabbri.

RCS Libri is also present in the United States with Rizzoli International, and in Spain and Portugal with La Esfera de los Libros and A Esfera dos Livros.

In Italy, RCS market share decreased from 11.8% to 11.3% in 2012.Key company developments in 2012 & 1st half year 2013.

Key Company Developments in 2012 & 2013

Financial:

The decline in revenues from 298.6 million EUR in 2011 to 273.3 million EUR is based mainly on the separation of Flammarion from RCS Libri. While Education and Rizzoli International reported constant revenues, the Trade division closed with a loss of 11.4 million EUR, down to 133 million EUR.

RCS Libri sold Flammarion to Madrigall, parent company of publishing house Gallimard, for 239 million EUR with an immediate payment of 184.2 million EUR and debt reimbursement. Flammarion's group revenues for the year ending June 30, 2012 were 99 million EUR, with EBITDA of 6.6 million EUR.

Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization:

The sale of Flammarion was completed on September 5th, 2012. In full year 2011 the French Group reported revenue of EUR 215 million EUR and an EBITDA of 25 million EUR.

In consideration of the ongoing uncertainty in the market, the Group has also implemented a new cost-containment initiative in Spain and Italy, which achieved benefits of 71 million EUR (of the 70 million announced) in 2012.

International:

By geography, Italy covers 1.09 billion EUR (68%), Spain 429 million EUR (27%), France 8.2 million EUR (1%) and other countries 76 million EUR (5%) of group revenues.

Digital:

In association with Italian train company NTV in early 2013, RCS Libri launched a service to give train passengers free e-book access in order to study the way consumers read and discover digital content.

During 2012, RCS Libri launched Rizzoli First, a digital-first list that publishes Italian and English versions of novels ahead of any print version. According to a company statement, Rizzoli was the first large publishing group in the Italian market to offer a digital-first imprint and the first worldwide to publish in dual languages.

Earlier Developments:

2011:

RCS Libri saw revenues decrease from 606.3 million EUR in 2010 to 513.3 million EUR, mostly due to the sales of the partworks companies GE Fabbri and Delagrave, which were finalised on January 21, 2011 and December 9, 2010, respectively. On a like for like basis, the decrease was 3.8 million EUR, or 1%. The EBITDA went down from 43.7 million EUR to 36.8 million EUR, or 15.8%. Only Rizzoli International showed an increase, of 11%

RCS sold off the partworks division of GE Fabbri and Delagrave.

In early 2012, the rumor spread that RCS considered selling of the French Flammarion group. Before any formal decision was made, the news instantly resulted in interest from several French publishing groups, notably Gallimard, Editis, Actes Sud, and La Martinière, as well as Italian market leader Mondadori.

2011 was a tough year for RCS MediaGroup in most of its fields, with overall revenues dropping from 2.26 billion EUR in 2010 to 2.08 billion EUR in 2011 (with EBITDA being flat), due to the general economic crisis, notably in Spain, where RCS has strong holdings. RCS also suffered declining revenues from advertising and press product circulation. The group made a net loss of 322 million EUR in 2011.

This overall development was reflected in the book division of RCS Libri in the sale of the partworks division and, in early 2012, considerations by the board to sell off the French publishing house Flammarion.

Digital revenues (mostly in the newspaper division) rose by 16%.

2010:

In 2010, RCS Libri's book publishing revenues reached 606.3 million EUR. All holdings of RCS Libri reported an increase, with strongest results for Flammarion (up 9.1%) and Rizzoli International, with revenues of 22.7 million EUR as opposed to 18.4% in 2009. The latter has doubled its ebooks sales.

Economic performance of RCS Libri had already been difficult, notably in the partworks division, which saw a drop from 185.9 million EUR in 2008 to 116.5 million EUR in 2009. Consequently, the number of titles was reduced by half.

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