Egmont is a leading Nordic media group that includes Nordisk Film, Norway’s TV 2, and video games along with book publishing. The company is active in 30 countries with 6,600 employees.
Egmont operates under The Egmont Foundation, a charitable organization. The foundation grants an annual share of the profits from the media companies to projects related to helping children in need.
Egmont created a new publishing division in November 2013 with Egmont Kids Media and Egmont Magazines.
Egmont Books includes Cappelen Damm, Norway's largest publisher, and Lindhardt og Ringhof, Denmark's second-largest publisher. Egmont Books publishes fiction and non-fiction, children's books, audiobooks, e-books and educational materials.
Egmont Publishing recorded a drop in operating profit in 2013 due to costs incurred from unifying the children’s and magazine businesses and headwinds in the children's media market. Magazine sales contributed 80% of the division’s earnings, and Egmont Publishing contributed 40% of Egmont's overall revenue.
Egmont Books closed fiscal 2013 with a resilient performance. Cappelen Damm maintained a leading role in general literature and upper-secondary school textbooks, noting a boost in online sales of physical and digital products and growth of more than 30%. Lindhardt og Ringhof managed to increase profit by 38% in 2013, noting a record demand for audiobooks, e-books, and other digital products. Alinea held its position as Denmark's largest supplier of educational materials, increasing digital learning media sales by 50%.
Key Company Developments in 2013 & 2014
Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization
In November 2013 Egmont unified its two publishing segments, the children's publishing unit Egmont Kids Media and its magazine publishing arm, Egmont Magazines.
Egmont Publishing bought three Norwegian home decorating magazine titles from Schibsted after recording a 40% increase in Lev Landlig, a previously acquired home and country living magazine that led 2012 in circulation growth.
Lindhardt og Ringhof acquired Forlaget Per Kofod, a publishing house with a list that includes Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt.
Digital
Egmont ventured into e-book streaming with the launch of ebib.dk, and Lindhardt og Ringhof is participating in Danish start-up Mofibo, which plans to introduce e-book streaming to Danish readers. Mofibo will have 5500 titles available at a monthly price tag of 99 DKK for unlimited access.
Earlier Developments
Financial
In 2012 Egmont's revenue grew by 17%, rounding 1.6 billion EUR. Operating profit increased by 24% to 187 million EUR. This is Egmont's highest profit to date.
In 2012, the Kids division revenue was on par with the year before. The slight decline in profit is due to difficult market conditions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2012 Egmont Books, consisting of Cappelen Damm in Norway and Lindhardt og Ringhof in Denmark, returned a profit in the challenging general literature and textbook markets. Cappelen Damm enjoyed another good year despite zero growth in Norway’s market as a whole.
In Denmark Lindhardt og Ringhof generated profit after several years of loss.
Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization
The company's acquisitions of Høyskoleforlaget and Akribe strengthened Egmont’s position as a publisher of books and electronic products for universities and the professional sector.
Lindhardt og Ringhof acquired Denmark's second-largest audio book publisher, Audioteket. During the year Kids Media launched over 200 apps and also secured new digital rights from Disney, Hasbro, Mattel, Warner Brothers and others.
The division also acquired a number of early learning apps called Fusentasterne, which have now been launched in 15 countries. Kids Media also bought Krea Medie, creator of one of Scandinavia's strongest edutainment-brands, Pixeline/Josefine.
International
Egmont UK appointed Penguin India as its distribution partner in January 2013, anticipating a sales boost of 50%. “It’s been a part of our strategy for the last couple of years to look at India,” according to Egmont UK group sales director Gillian Laskier, “and we even considered setting up our own company out there, but in looking at it closely, we decided to change distributor."
Digital
Egmont Kids Media continued to focus on multiplatform publications in 2012.
In 2012 the company invested in new development and consolidated digital products. The textbook publisher Alinea thus became Denmark's largest supplier of both analogue and digital learning media in 2012.
Bestselling Authors & Titles
The Danish translation of S.J. Watson’s international bestselling thriller “Before I Go To Sleep” was released in spring 2012 through Lindhardt & Ringhof, part of the Egmont Books division.
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