Roularta Media Group (RMG) closes the 2025 financial year with adjusted sales of 310.4 million euros, down 3.2% on 2024. The Belgian magazine publisher and print operator with 1,100 employees posted EBITDA of 26.4 million euros, or 8.8% of sales, close to the level achieved the previous year.
Operating income declined more sharply. EBIT came to 1.7 million euros versus 3.6 million a year earlier. Net income came to 4.9 million euros, compared with 6.1 million in 2024.
Group CEO Xavier Bouckaert says: "Roularta Media Group has held up well in a difficult market in 2025. We continue to invest in digital transformation, which is well underway."
The Group's activities are organized around two segments: Media Brands, which includes the media brands operated by Roularta, and Printing Services, which covers premedia and printing activities for Group titles and third-party customers.
Media Brands penalized by decline in advertising market
The Media Brands segment posted adjusted sales of 283,2 million, down 3%.
The contraction stems mainly from the advertising market, down 9.9%, with a marked drop for the free press in Belgium. Revenues from readers also fell, particularly after the sale of several German magazines at the end of 2024.
Other activities, including brand extensions and events, grew slightly.
Printing Services down, gross margin up
The Printing Services segment posted adjusted sales of 60.8 million euros in 2025, down 3.9%. This is mainly due to lower internal transactions with the Media Brands segment (28.4 million euros from external customers).
The segment's gross margin nevertheless rose to 60.8% of sales, compared with 58.7% a year earlier.
The group's printing plant produces several international titles. In particular, Roularta Printing prints The Guardian Weekly and is strengthening its collaboration with the Financial Times. The plant also produces international magazines for the European and UK markets, including The Economist and Bloomberg Businessweek.
At the same time, Roularta continues to develop its digital offering. The Mes Magazines application remains at the heart of the subscription strategy, with packages combining digital access and print editions. The group also uses artificial intelligence to assist editorial teams with tasks such as translation, proofreading and interview transcription.
Industrial and energy investments
Consolidated capital expenditure will reach 7.7 million euros by 2025. These include software development, office refurbishment and investment in printing facilities.
The Group is also finalizing the installation of a solar park with 2,933 photovoltaic panels, for an investment of over one million euros. Approximately 75% of the electricity generated will be used to power printing operations, offices and recharge the electric vehicle fleet.
Against this backdrop of transformation in the press market and persistent pressure on advertising revenues, the Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be paid for fiscal 2025.
