Alma Media to combine the Alma News & Life and the Alma Regions business segments; Kari Kivelä to head the new segment

Alma Media Corporation        Stock Exchange Release                      21 March 2018 at 9.00 a.m. (EET)

ALMA MEDIA TO COMBINE THE ALMA NEWS & LIFE AND THE ALMA REGIONS BUSINESS SEGMENTS; KARI KIVELÄ TO HEAD THE NEW SEGMENT

Alma Media will combine the Alma News & Life business segment, which produces news and lifestyle services, and Alma Regions business segment, which focuses on regional and local media business, from 1 April 2018. After the business segment combination, Alma Media will comprise three business segments: Alma Markets, focusing on digital marketplaces and the recruitment business, Alma Talent, a provider of financial media and services aimed at professionals and businesses, and the new unit, which will focus on the consumer media business.

The new business unit’s pro forma revenue for 2017 was EUR 151 million and its pro forma adjusted operating profit was EUR 16.6 million. In 2017, the digital business accounted for 22 per cent of the segment’s revenue. The new business unit will have approximately 600 permanent full-time employees and some 770 part-time paper deliverers.

The combination of business segments will simplify Alma Media’s segment structure and improve operational manageability. The combination will also enable closer cooperation between different units and strengthen Alma Media’s position in the consumer media and services market in Finland. In accordance with Group strategy, the aim is to utilise the latest technologies and strong expertise in developing digital products and services for consumers while ensuring the best services for advertising customers based on modern advertising technology, data and marketing automation.

In conjunction with the combination of business segments, Alma Regions’ current Senior Vice President and member of the Alma Media Group Executive Team Kari Juutilainen will step down and retire. The new entity will be led by Kari Kivelä, currently Senior Vice President of the Alma News & Life segment and the publisher of Iltalehti. In connection with the reorganisation, Kari Kivelä will step down from his position as Senior Editor-in-Chief of Iltalehti. Perttu Kauppinen, Editor-in-Chief for News, will begin as acting Editor-in-Chief of Iltalehti.

”The new unit will have a major role in the everyday lives of Finnish media consumers nationally, regionally and locally. By combining two strong business units, we can accelerate digitalisation in content, services and advertising in line with our strategy. Consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, and we can use the strengths of the new unit to further improve our customer understanding and service capability,” says Kai Telanne, President & CEO of Alma Media.

Related to the change, Alma Media will initiate an integration process to combine the business segments. During this time, the practical measures related to the integration will be outlined in more detail and possible cost synergies created by the combination will be assessed.

Alma Media will report according to the new segment structure starting from the second half of 2018 and will publish more detailed pro forma figures for the newly formed business unit in May.

ALMA MEDIA CORPORATION
Elina Kukkonen
Vice President, Corporate Communications

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

More information
Juha Nuutinen, CFO, Alma Media Corporation, tel. +358 (0)10 665 3873
Elina Kukkonen, Senior Vice President, Communications and Brand, Alma Media Corporation, tel. +358 (0)10 665 2333

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a media company focusing on the service business and journalistic content. The company’s best-known brands are Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Affärsvärlden, Iltalehti, Aamulehti, Etuovi.com and Monster. Alma Media builds sustainable growth for its customers by utilising the opportunities of digitality, including information services, system and expert services and advertising solutions. Alma Media’s operations have expanded from Finland to the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Central Europe. Alma Media employs approximately 2,250 professionals (excluding delivery personnel), of whom approximately 30% work outside Finland. Alma Media’s revenue in 2017 was EUR 367.3 million. Alma Media’s share is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.com.

Share article