Denmark’s Egmont posts best-ever results, up 24% on 2010

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

29/03/2012 - With €93.9 million the bottom line for 2011, Denmark’s Egmont media concern – the owner of Danish major Nordisk Film A/S and Norway’s commercial broadcaster TV2 – posted its best financial statement ever, 24% up on the previous year.

In a ”market with fierce competition”, Egmont reached a turnover of €1.389 billion, primarily from TV2, magazine publishing and creative media products. ”Half of our gross revenue can now be seen on the screen,” said Director Steffen Kragh (pictured). In 2011 TV2 (Norway) delivered a record result of €26.9 million to Egmont, then a 50%-owner of the station; on Feb 1 this year, the concern purchased the remaining 50%, increasing the television part of the turnover to 25% in the future, adding €201.7m to the yield.

Nordisk Film registered a €10.5m profit, down from €18.0m, mainly due to the lesser music business and declining income from theatrical and video distribution after a strong 2010. Digitisation of the company’s theatres will be completed in May.

Through its local branches, Nordisk distributed every sixth cinema film released in Scandinavia, and it also participated in Denmark’s number one and two blockbusters, A Funny Man [trailer] and The Reunion [trailer], as well as Norway’s international success, Headhunters [trailer]. A co-owner of Zentropa Entertainments, Nordisk signed for a share in the international honours achieved by Danish directors Lars von Trier’s Melancholia [trailer, film focus] (European Film Awards) and Susanne Bier’s In a Better World [trailer] (Oscar, Golden Globe, European Film Award).