Alma Media Corporation Half-Year Report               17 July 2025 at 12.00 p.m.

ALMA MEDIA'S HALF-YEAR REPORT JANUARY-JUNE 2025: In Q2, adjusted operating profit increased by 8.9%, with improved profitability across all segments

Financial performance April-June 2025:

• Revenue MEUR 83.7 (80.1), up 4.5%.
• The share of digital business was 86.2% (84.4%) of revenue.
• Adjusted operating profit MEUR 21.1 (19.4), 25.2% (24.2%) of revenue.
• Operating profit MEUR 19.9 (19.2), up 3.7%.
• Alma Career: Adjusted operating profit turned to growth as a result of efficiency improvement measures.
• Alma Marketplaces: Revenue grew by 16.5% organically and supported by an acquisition, while profitability continued to improve.
• Alma News Media: Revenue on a par with the comparison period, adjusted operating profit increased by 20.1%.
• Earnings per share EUR 0.18 (0.18), up 4.0%.

Financial performance January-June 2025:

• Revenue MEUR 162.9 (156.2), up 4.3%.
• The share of digital business was 85.1% (83.7%) of revenue.
• Adjusted operating profit MEUR 38.3 (35.5), 23.5% (22.7%) of revenue.
• Operating profit MEUR 36.5 (34.2), up 6.7%.
• Earnings per share EUR 0.32 (0.31), up 3.8%.

Key figures

* The classification of revenue has been further specified between digital services and other revenue. The corresponding adjustment has been made to the comparison figures.

CEO's review: Profitability improved in all business segments

Alma Media's business developed favourably in the second quarter. Revenue grew both organically and supported by acquisitions by 4.5% to MEUR 83.7. Adjusted operating profit increased by 8.9% to MEUR 21.1 and was 25.2% (24.2%) of revenue. The Group's advertising sales also turned to growth, increasing by 2.1%. The share of revenue represented by digital business rose to 86.2%.

At the same time, our financial position strengthened: at the end of the quarter, our gearing was 71.4% (81.0%) and our equity ratio 46.1% (44.3%).

Service and technology investments as drivers of future growth

In the Alma Career segment, revenue decreased by 2.6% to MEUR 27.0. Adjusted operating profit increased by 2.2% to MEUR 11.4, representing 42.2% (40.2%) of revenue.

In local currencies, revenue decreased by 2.9% and adjusted operating profit increased by 2.0%. Invoicing in local currencies was on a par with the comparison period (Q1/2025: 1.9%). The segment's profitability improved due to cost savings. In spite of wage inflation, savings were achieved as the number of employees decreased.

Labour market development varied in the segment's operating countries: in the Czech Republic, the employment situation remained stable, and labour demand remained at a good level in all customer segments. In Slovakia, market development slowed, particularly due to increased caution among large customers in an uncertain economic situation. In Croatia, the positive development of employment continued as the unemployment rate decreased further, and there were already signs of labour shortages in certain seasonal sectors. In the Baltic countries, the overall situation in the labour markets remained stable, but recruitment activity increased slightly when compared to the previous year. In Finland, the situation remained challenging, and the number of new vacancies continued to decrease when compared to the previous year.

In the Alma Marketplaces segment, revenue growth was accelerated by the acquisition of Edilex Lakitieto. Revenue increased by 16.5% and amounted to MEUR 29.2, with the rate of organic growth being 9.5%. Expenses increased by 15.7%, which was attributable to acquisitions. Adjusted operating profit improved by 18.2% to MEUR 8.4, corresponding to 28.8% (28.4%) of revenue.

The housing market showed signs of recovery, which was reflected in an increase in the transaction volume for old dwellings, among other things. Revenue from the Real Estate business unit increased by 17.9% to MEUR 11.0. A total of 2,735 digital housing transactions were carried out on the DIAS platform in June, setting a new monthly high. The number of DIAS transactions increased by as much as 73% when compared to June 2024.

Revenue from the Mobility business unit increased by 4.3% to MEUR 9.4. Supported by the Edilex acquisition, the Insights business grew by 42.0% to MEUR 6.7.

The implementation of development projects continued, particularly in digital services related to the automotive and housing verticals, focusing on transactional business and the development of AI-assisted technology.

The Alma News Media segment's revenue was on a par with the comparison period at MEUR 27.5. Adjusted expenses decreased by 2.9% and adjusted operating profit increasing by 20.1% to MEUR 4.6, representing 16.8% (14.0%) of revenue. The segment's advertising revenue also turned to slight growth, increasing by 1.4%.

Interest in the news remained at a high level and the IPO market of the Helsinki Stock Exchange showed signs of a recovery. The share of digital business increased to 63.9% of the segment's revenue. The number of digital subscriptions currently stands at approximately 216,700. Digital subscription sales have been further accelerated by Iltalehti Plus Extra, which was launched in May as Iltalehti's more extensive subscription product.

Towards new services with the supported of AI

The rapidly changing customer environment requires us to be agile and stay on the forefront of development, which is why we make purposeful investments in competence and technology. The continuous development, growth and scaling of business operations by taking advantage of the latest technology is a cornerstone of our strategy.

The adoption of AI is progressing rapidly across all of our businesses. The company has dozens of AI-based projects under way with the aim of improving the efficiency of operations, enriching service solutions and creating completely new concepts for the market.

For example, in May, we launched Edilex AI, a service that is based on generative AI and provides answers to legal questions quickly, accurately and based on reliable sources.

Kai Telanne

President and CEO

Operating environment

In its most recent economic forecast (5/2025), the European Commission projects economic growth of 1.1% and inflation of 2.3% in the EU for 2025. The Commission estimates that the unemployment rate for the EU as a whole will remain at the previous year's level (5.9%).

The Commission projects that economic growth in Finland will accelerate from the previous year and amount to 1.0% this year. Inflation is expected to be 1.7% and the forecast for the unemployment rate is 8.6%. In addition to Finland, Alma Media's main markets are the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Eastern Central Europe, and Croatia in Southern Europe. The Commission projects that the GDP growth rate will be 1.9% in the Czech Republic, 1.5% in Slovakia and 3.2% in Croatia this year. The Commission's unemployment rate projections for this year are 2.6% for the Czech Republic, 5.3% for Slovakia and 4.6% for Croatia.

Alma's main operating countries are dependent on foreign trade. Risks related to global trade policy and geopolitics are elevated, and uncertainty in expectations has grown, which may be reflected in economic development. In Finland, the outlook is cautious, and the economy is expected to turn around slowly.

The European Central Bank has continued to implement interest rate cuts this year. It is expected that the decreased price of financing will support household purchases of durable consumer goods and the willingness of companies to invest. Housing construction in Finland is still expected to recover slowly.

Outlook for 2025

Alma Media expects its full-year revenue and adjusted operating profit of 2025 to remain at the 2024 level. The full-year revenue for 2024 was MEUR 312.7 and the adjusted operating profit was MEUR 76.9.

Background for the outlook

The outlook is based on the estimate that the national economies in the company's main market areas will pick up, but uncertainty in the markets will continue. Fluctuations in the global economy may affect the development of the markets.

The period of slow growth in Finland is expected to continue, and advertising is still subject to uncertainty. Acquisitions support the development of the Group's revenue and operating profit. The diversification of the Group's business activities between multiple geographical markets and business areas, and purposeful cost control, stabilise the company's outlook even in challenging market conditions.

Market situation in the main markets in Finland

Market development in the automotive industry

According to statistics provided by the Finnish Information Centre of the Automobile Sector, the market for new passenger cars remained subdued: first registrations of new passenger cars decreased by 4.9% year-on-year in January-June. Sales of used cars by dealerships remained on a par with the comparison period.

Market development in housing

According to the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies, a total of 27,198 transactions of used apartments were reported to the KVKL Price Monitoring Service, during January-June. This represents an 18.8% increase compared to the previous year, but the volume is still 6.7% below the five-year average. The number of new apartment sales was 892, which is 8.1% lower than last year and 72.6% below the five-year average.

Market development in the media business

According to Kantar TNS, the media advertising volume in January-June decreased by 2.2% from the comparison period. The industries with the largest increases in media advertising were oil and energy, financial services and telecommunications services, while the construction sector, cosmetics and the clothing industry had the largest decreases in media advertising.

More information:
Kai Telanne, President and CEO, tel. +358 (0)10 665 3500
Taru Lehtinen, CFO, tel. +358 (0)10 665 3609

News conference and live webcast

Alma Media will publish its Half-Year Report for 1 January-30 June 2025 on Thursday, 17 July 2025 approximately at 12 pm (EEST). An analyst and investor webcast will be held in English by President & CEO Kai Telanne and CFO Taru Lehtinen starting at 1.00 pm (EEST).

The live webcast can be followed via https://almamedia.events.inderes.com/q2-2025/register. Questions can be asked through the webcast chat function.

An on-demand version of the webcast and the presentation material will be available on the company's website on the same day www.almamedia.fi/en/investors/reports-and-presentations/presentations.

Alma Media's financial calendar 2025

• Interim Report for January-September 2025 on Friday, 31 October 2025 at approximately 8:00 EET

ALMA MEDIA CORPORATION
Board of Directors
 

Distribution: NASDAQ Helsinki, main media, www.almamedia.fi/en