Finnish media group Sanoma has amortised EUR392 million on the goodwill of SBS Netherlands.
The company bought the Dutch SBS channels in a joint bid with John de Mol’s Talpa for EUIR1.25 billion from ProSiebenSat.1. The Dutch interests were put in Image BV, 67% owned by Sanoma and 33% owned by Talpa.
Sanoma has now written off EUR201 million for the year 2012 and EUR191 million for 2013. On the balance of Image BV the goodwill is now EUR692 million (EUR595 million for TV and EUR97 million for the print TV guides Veronica and Totaal TV).
Kim Ignatius, CFO Sanoma, told RTL-Z News “The performance of SBS TV and print is a disappointment. [At the time] it was the market price. But it is true that the value of SBS clearly decreased. The conditions in the Netherlands have also changed over the past two years, the market has gotten worse.”
SBS in the Netherlands comprises the family channel SBS6, male skewed Veronica and female oriented Net 5 as well as two print and an online TV guide. At the moment, the broadcaster’s flagship channel SBS6 is performing poorly when compared to its nearest rival, RTL4. Circulation of the prin TV guides is also under pressure.
Earler this month Georgette Schlick has resigned as CEO of SBS Broadcasting and was replaced by Hans Edin, president of Nelonen Media, Sanoma’s Finnish TV and radio operations, as the acting CEO for the interim period.