Tamedia in the year 2006

On 18 January, Sandro Rüegger was named Head of Advertising Market Tages-Anzeiger and Deputy Publishing Director; Daniel Schnüriger will take over the management of Advertising Market Magazines. Effective 1 March, 2006, the 37-year old Sandro Rüegger, who has been in charge of Advertising Market Magazines since 1 September, 2004, will head Advertising Market Tages-Anzeiger. In this position, he will have general responsibility for the national and regional advertising market and act as deputy to Publishing Director Rolf Bollmann.

In early February, Tamedia announced that 20 minutes and 20minutes.ch will be launched 8 March, 2006. From this date on, 20 minutes will appear in two regional editions in Lausanne and Geneva. They are designed to attract a young, urban target group with high spending power. Like their sister publications in German-speaking Switzerland, they will offer two pages of local news every day, in addition to a complete national and international news section. A local calendar of events (“what’s up”), a movie and sports section, as well as the local weather are rounding out the paper, which has a circulation of 120,000 copies. With 20minutes.ch, an effective editorial and commercial cross-media approach will be practiced in the French-speaking part of Switzerland as well.

The launch on 8 March was successful. The average volume of 20 minutes will range between 32 and 36 pages. Approximately 120,000 copies will be distributed daily, primarily in the Lake Geneva region, in 130 newspaper boxes located at Swiss railway stations, over 250 boxes at public transportation stops and through other channels. 20 minutes and its Internet platform 20minutes.ch are produced by 40 employees under the leadership of Managing Director Joseph Crisci and Editor-in-Chief Philippe Favre.

Tages-Anzeiger with 5 regional editions starting in the 4th quarter of 2006, creating 65 new jobs in the region; layout to be redesigned. With additional regional editions on the right bank of Lake Zurich, within the city of Zurich, in Zurich Oberland and Unterland, Tages-Anzeiger intends to broaden its core area in the Canton Zurich. All new editions will appear in newspaper format, beginning in the 4th quarter. Approximately three quarters of the 65 new jobs are created in the regional editorial offices and one fourth in publishing. The financing for this challenging project in the high single digit million range will be provided by redistribution and cost savings as a result of improved productivity in publishing and editorial offices. The 10-year old layout will be replaced by a new visual concept, made possible by new developments in print technology, to reflect the strategy of producing a complete newspaper.
Newspaper advertising production (APZ) will be reorganized. Declining orders, especially for the major edition of Tages-Anzeiger, which had already led to a capacity adjustment in the fall of 2005, additions to Tamedia’s title portfolio and the scheduled replacement of the software application to meet the needs of all publications and current market conditions, necessitate a fundamental reorganization of APZ. These actions, which were approved by the Board of Directors on 23 March, will significantly optimize processes and utilize synergies. They will also result in a gradual reduction in force. The number of jobs to be cut will be announced mid-April.

On 28 March, Tamedia published its 2005 financial results. Tamedia returned to growth; operating income (EBIT) increased by 51 percent to 95.2 million Swiss francs.

As a result of the integration of 20 Minuten and Thurgauer Zeitung, the Newspapers Division reported an increase in operating revenues of 29.6 percent to CHF 445.6 million. The Division contributed 68.6 percent of total sales and 75.2 percent of EBIT. The Magazines Division invested in the reader market and sold Spick, which caused operating income to decrease. The Electronic Media Division doubled its EBITDA.
Although various adjustments were made (divestiture of Regor and Werd Verlag), the Services Division posted a 6.7 percent increase in operating income before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to CHF 39.6 million due to the integration of Huber & Co. AG (4th quarter 2005) and significantly improved utilization rates at the Bubenberg printing facility. The equity ratio remains unchanged at 60 percent.

The Board of Directors proposed a dividend payment of CHF 2.50 per share to the Annual General Meeting.

Employees receive a profit sharing bonus of CHF 2,420 (full-time employees). Due to the excellent results in fiscal year 2005, this is the first time that the employees of 20 Minuten, Belcom/TeleZüri, Finanz und Wirtschaft, Medag as well as Radio 24 and Radio Basilisk, in addition to the Tamedia and Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich AG workforce, will also be paid a profit sharing bonus.

Project APZ will be implemented mid-April. The measures announced in March 2006 will cause a gradual reduction in force, which will affect an estimated 25 jobs. In a first phase, 10.7 jobs will be cut. Another 14 positions are expected to be eliminated in the fall of 2006, after the installation of the new IT systems, and in the spring of 2007. The employees affected by this will be covered under Tamedia’s earlier social compensation plan.

Franziska Hügli is leaving Tamedia. After 14 years in the media industry, the Head of Human Resources Management and Corporate Communications decided to leave Tamedia in the fall of 2006 to further her education abroad. Information on her successor will be provided at a later time.

Zuvo and Prisma are joining forces on early morning deliveries. Effective as of 1 October, 2006, Zuvo AG will take over the early morning delivery services of Prisma Medienservice AG, a subsidiary of St. Galler Tagblatt AG (which in turn is part of the NZZ group). Prisma’s delivery personnel (approx. 520) will continue to be employed by Zuvo at the same terms. In the future, Zuvo will cover 30 percent of all households in German-speaking Switzerland with this new arrangement of early morning deliveries. Additional delivery services for magazines are scheduled for 2007.

Orell Füssli takes over Huber booksellers in Frauenfeld. This transaction will take effect on 1 January 2007 and ensure the survival of the largest retail bookseller in the canton of Thurgau. The Huber bookstore is expected to reopen under the name "Orell Füssli Buchhandlung" in the shopping mall on Frauenfeld's Bahnhofplatz. Orell Füssli will continue the employment of all eight staff under the current terms.

Victor Breu leaves Finanz und Wirtschaft. Breu is leaving the company for personal reasons and of his own choice. Until a decision is made on his successor, deputy chief editor Peter Schuppli, a 30-year veteran at the Finanz und Wirtschaft and currently head of the Switzerland department, and publishing head Martin Coninx will jointly take over management of the Finanz und Wirtschaft.

Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich new in a weekly tabloid format. Starting on 29 November, the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich will appear in a reader-friendly tabloid format and a modern layout on Wednesdays. As a city gazette, it clearly differs from a daily newspaper in terms of content and style. In addition to official messages and announcements, the city's official publication features approximately 19 editorial pages. The current concept was developed in cooperation with the city of Zurich. Besides interviews, reports and portraits new journalistic forms and interactive elements such as the ZüriEcho reader forum are planned. A contemporary typography, large images and significantly improved reader guidance will increase its appeal to readers and advertisers alike.
The shareholders of Tamedia and Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) believe in the new Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich's chances to succeed in the reader and advertising market. In addition to the district newspaper QuartierEcho (covering the city districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 9), Die Vorstadt (covering the districts 11 and 12) will be distributed as a partial supplement to the Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich from now on. Both titles will continue to be published in a newspaper format. The changes will have no effect on personnel.

Markus Stoll new head of Tamedia personnel management. The 37-year old human resources specialist with international experience in the field will assume his new role on 2 April 2007. Markus Stoll studied business administration with focus on personnel management and marketing at the University of Zurich. After several national and international leadership functions in the personnel departments of UBS and Credit Suisse, he has served as a member of the management board of Zurich Financial Services Group since 2004. Presently, Markus Stoll is Global HR Senior Project Manager in the HR Business Management department.

20 minutes launches its third edition. As of 3 January 2007, the commuter paper's edition for French-speaking Switzerland with a planned circulation of 90,000 copies will be distributed in over 400 additional newspaper boxes in the cantons of Neuchâtel and Jura as well as the French-speaking areas of the cantons of Berne, Fribourg and Valais. This way 20 minutes will increase its circulation in Western Switzerland to approximately 240,000 copies and further strengthen its position.

At the same time, its web portal, 20minutes.ch, will be significantly expanded. The new edition of 20minutes.ch will be updated for 16 hours on weekdays and for 12 hours on weekends. For this purpose eight new editorial jobs and one publishing job will be created. From 2007 on 20 minutes will have more than 50 staff.

Tages-Anzeiger launches large-scale edition. In its last meeting of 2006, the Board of Directors of Tamedia adopted the launch of a large-scale edition of the Tages-Anzeiger. The large-scale edition (without the Stellen-Anzeiger job classifieds) will be distributed in the Lake Zurich, Zurich Oberland and Zurich Unterland regions by spring of 2007. With an additional 170,000 copies the total circulation on publication day will increase to 395,000 copies. The Tages-Anzeiger is expected to reach 720,000 readers across Switzerland (over 50 percent reach) and become by far the largest of all daily newspapers in the economic region of Zurich.

jobwinner.ch and alpha.ch job portals expanding their services. The Tamedia job market is expanding. In the areas of sales and online production a total of ten new jobs will be created. By expanding its sales team and offering new products for medium-sized and large customers, Tamedia aims to increase the market share of its two job portals in the long term. A further integration of online products in the newspapers and magazines published by Tamedia and intensified marketing activities targeting job hunters are expected to further strengthen the recognition and awareness of these services.

Christoph Tonini new Vice Chairman of the Management Board. With this decision the Board of Directors has rejuvenated the executive management of Tamedia. Jürg Brauchli, Head of the Printing & Logistics Division, will continue to serve as a member of the Management Board. The 37-year old Tonini joined the Management Board of Tamedia in April 2003 as Head of Finances. In October 2004, he also assumed responsibility for the Services Division and, since December 2005, he has been Head of Newspapers Switzerland.

Printing business increases salary sum in its overall employment contract (GAV) by 1.3%. The Management Board and the Plant Committee of Tamedia have agreed on a 1.3% salary sum increase for the printing, pre-press and technical service departments. 1 percent of the sum will be used for individual increases (per 1 April 2007). 0.3 percent will be paid as a general salary increase of CHF 20 per employee as of 1 January 2007. Employer and plant committee are both satisfied with the result of these negotiations. Salary increases for all other employees will be communicated by Tamedia in the first quarter of 2007.
Moreover, all employees of Tamedia and its fully consolidated subsidiaries will continue to benefit from a profit-sharing bonus. This depends on the annual results 2007, which will be announced on 27 March 2007.

New Remuneration Accounting team for newspapers and magazines. The revision of the company and accounting legislation has resulted in more rigid requirements for internal controlling. As of 1 January 2007, the remuneration accounting of the publications Annabelle, Facts, Das Magazin, Schweizer Familie, SonntagsZeitung, Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich and Tages-Anzeiger will be consolidated. 20 Minuten and Finanz und Wirtschaft will be added by mid 2007. The remuneration accounting departments of the Thurgauer Zeitung and Regionalzeitung Hinterthurgau will remain in Frauenfeld but report to central Remuneration Accounting.
The new team will be headed by Ursula Sänger, currently Head of Remuneration Accounting at the Tages-Anzeiger, and report to Tamedia's Salary Administration. The number of jobs will remain unchanged.