Marketplaces 2009
The Marketplaces segment reports Alma Media's classified services produced on the internet and supported by printed products. The services in Finland are Etuovi.com, Monster.fi, Autotalli.com, Mascus.fi and Mikko.fi. The services outside Finland are City24, Mascus and Bovision. Alma Media sold the Motors24 vehicle sales portals operating in the Baltic countries in May 2009.Financial development in 2009
Net sales for Marketplaces declined by 21.3% in 2009 to MEUR 27.0 (34.3). The slowdown in home advertising in Finland and the Baltic countries, as well as the sharp drop in recruitment advertising in Finland kept net sales development negative during the entire year 2009. Marketplaces' Finnish services (for example, Etuovi.com, Monster.fi, Autotalli.com), however, increased their market shares despite the difficult market conditions.
The home sales classified advertisement portals City 24 and Bovision suffered from the difficult market conditions. The financial crisis caused a significant decline in the home sales markets of all the countries in which these services operate.
The full-year operating profit of Marketplaces declined from MEUR 2.0 to a loss of MEUR 0.7. The operating loss without one-time items was MEUR -0.5 (operating profit of MEUR 2.0).
Based on impairment testing, Alma Media booked a depreciation of MEUR 1.0 in financial year 2009. The depreciation is related with the City24 business unit in the home sales business of the Marketplaces segment.
Mascus’ internationalisation continues
Mascus, the marketplace for used heavy equipment, continued its fast pace of internationalisation. During 2009, Mascus expanded through franchising agreements to countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Mascus now operates in 30 countries and the service can be used in 35 languages.
Renewal of services continued despite the challenging business environment
The Monster.fi website underwent an extensive renewal at the beginning of the year, which contributed to a significant increase in its annual average number of visitors, more than 12%. Monster’s online recruitment fair had record participation, more than 80 companies presenting themselves, even in the difficult market environment.
The Mikko.fi service was completely overhauled during the year, which led to a marked 24-per cent increase in the number of visitors compared with the previous year. The position of Mikko.fi as an intermediate node between the online world and the newspaper strengthened. Auction campaigns carried out in cooperation with Alma Media’s regional papers increased the sales of hybrid products that combine online and print.
The Autotalli.com service also renewed remarkably in 2009. Among other modernisations was a totally new type of search engine. Despite the difficult market conditions, Autotalli.com managed to increase its market share, 14 per cent in December.
Distribution of Asuntomedia freesheet expands vigorously
Etuovi.com and Suomen Lehtiyhtymä started cooperation in the beginning of 2010. The printed Asuntomedia paper will appear as an insert between Suomen Lehtiyhtymä's three metropolitan papers, complemented by its own special distributions. The reach and household coverage of the paper will increase significantly. It will be delivered to more than 530,000 households in the metropolitan Helsinki area.
In addition, the distribution of the printed Asuntomedia paper was expanded to the Savo region as well as the cities of Lahti and Oulu.
The Vuokraovi.com online service, launched in 2008, reached an established position in the market and became one of the most important sources of information for people looking for homes to rent.
Comparison period figures in brackets.
Page last updated 10.01.2011
