Ekspress Grupp aims to increase the number of digital subscriptions by 250 per cent

The leading Baltic media group Ekspress Grupp has set a goal to increase the number of digital subscriptions in the Baltic States by more than 250 per cent while growing the share of digital revenue to 85 per cent of total Group’s revenue.

The Supervisory Board of AS Ekspress Grupp has defined the Group’s strategic financial goals which the company aims to achieve by the year-end 2026. According to Mari-Liis Rüütsalu, the Chairman of the Management Board of Ekspress Grupp the purpose for laying down the strategic goals is to ensure the growth of the Group’s business, digitalisation of its operations and revenue as well as profitability and dividend distribution capacity also in the future.

“The new goals set out for the next five years are based on the changes in the operating environment, competitive landscape and progress with the restructuring strategy. Over the last several years, Ekspress Grupp has been successful in implementing the strategy of growing our digital revenue, thereby creating value for our shareholders as well as the company’s daily operations. We have increased the share of digital revenue in the Group’s total revenue to almost 75 per cent, but there is more room to increasing it by 10 percentage points over the next five years. We also see a good opportunity in growing the number of digital subscribers of our periodicals 2,5 times, primarily through growth in the Latvia and Lithuanian markets”, noted Mari-Liis Rüütsalu.

The long-term strategic financial goals of Ekspress Grupp by the year-end 2026 in comparison with the year-end 2021 are as follows:

Goal by the year-end 2026 Goal for 2026 Actual result for 2021
Digital subscriptions in the Baltic States >340 000 134 947
Share of digital revenue >85% 76%
EBITDA margin >15% 15%
Dividend payout ratio 30% 37%

AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading Baltic media group whose key activities include web media content production, publishing of newspapers, magazines and books. The Group also operates an electronic ticket sales platform and ticket offices in Estonia and Latvia. Ekspress Grupp that launched its operations in 1989 employs almost 1,400 people, owns the leading web media portals in the Baltic States and publishes the most popular daily and weekly newspapers as well as the majority of the most popular magazines in Estonia.