Sanoma Corporation

Sanoma’s 2025 results illustrate a company navigating two very different markets at once: a mature national media business facing structural advertising pressure and a pan-European educational publishing division benefiting from rising margins and cyclical curriculum demand.

Group net sales fell 3% to €1,302.5 million, with both operating segments declining modestly. The decrease reflects a combination of weaker Finnish advertising markets, deliberate strategic decisions in the learning division, and the absence of major curriculum renewal cycles in key education markets.

The learning division recorded revenues of €745.8 million, down from €764.2 million in 2024. The decline was largely intentional. Sanoma had previously chosen not to participate in low-margin distribution tenders in the Dutch market, withdrawing from a business where it primarily distributed third-party educational materials rather than its own content. The move reduced revenue but improved the overall margin profile of the segment.

Sanoma Media Finland, the company’s domestic media arm, generated €556.9 million in revenue, a 4% decline year-on-year. The drop was driven primarily by weaker advertising demand in the Finnish market, particularly in television and print media. Subscription revenues continued to grow, however, supported by increasing digital news subscriptions and strong performance from the streaming service Ruutu+.

Despite the revenue decline, profitability improved. Adjusted operating profit rose to €188.2 million, up from €180.0 million in 2024, while the adjusted operating margin increased from 13.4% to 14.4%.

Learning remained the most profitable segment. Its adjusted operating margin rose to 20.4%, reflecting the improved sales mix following the exit from distribution activities, lower printing costs and structural efficiencies delivered through Program Solar, Sanoma’s multi-year cost optimisation programme.

Media Finland’s profitability also improved modestly. Its adjusted operating margin increased from 8.2% to 8.8%, indicating that cost discipline and subscription growth helped offset advertising market weakness.

The statutory IFRS results were significantly lower due to restructuring and impairment charges. Operating profit fell to €48.6 million, down from €81.8 million in 2024.

Most of this gap reflects two large items affecting comparability. In Learning, Sanoma recorded a €48 million impairment related to the withdrawal from Dutch distribution contracts. In Media Finland, the closure of the Tampere printing plant generated approximately €32 million in impairments and restructuring costs.

The board proposed a dividend of €0.42 per share, an 8% increase from the previous year.

Key Financial Indicators

Source: Sanoma Corporation Full-Year Result 2025

Sanoma Corporation is a Helsinki-based media and learning company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. It operates through two main divisions: Sanoma Learning, a European educational publishing business, and Sanoma Media Finland, the country’s largest private media group.

Sanoma Learning is one of Europe’s leading K-12 educational publishers, serving around 25 million students across seven countries including the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Finland and Belgium. The division develops textbooks, digital learning platforms and teaching tools for primary, secondary and vocational education.

Sanoma Media Finland, meanwhile, dominates the Finnish commercial media landscape. Its brands include Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat and Aamulehti, the Nelonen television network, the Ruutu streaming platform and Radio Suomipop. The company reaches roughly 96% of the Finnish population weekly through its combined television, print, digital, radio and event businesses.

This dual structure, a national media powerhouse paired with a pan-European education company, is unusual in the European media sector. Over the past decade, Sanoma has gradually transformed itself from a Nordic newspaper group into a broader education and media company, with the learning business now generating the majority of group profits.

What the Numbers Don’t Tell You

Sanoma’s media division is operating within a familiar structural trajectory: declining print revenue, cyclical advertising markets and the gradual migration of audiences toward digital platforms. Print revenues continued to fall in 2025 and now represent around 42% of Media Finland’s revenue. Advertising markets also remained weak, reflecting both macroeconomic conditions and the structural shift of advertising spending toward global digital platforms.

Yet the segment’s margin improvement suggests the company has been able to offset those pressures through cost discipline and subscription growth. Subscription revenues rose to €263.7 million, driven by continued expansion of digital news subscriptions and the growing popularity of the Ruutu+ streaming service, which combines entertainment content with live sports.

For Sanoma, this shift toward reader and viewer revenue mirrors a broader transition occurring across European media markets: moving away from advertising-dominated revenue models toward hybrid subscription ecosystems.

The most intriguing opportunity for Media Finland, however, lies slightly further ahead. Finland is expected to liberalise its gambling market in July 2027, ending the current state monopoly. Sanoma estimates the change could generate more than €20 million annually in additional advertising revenue once international gambling operators begin competing for Finnish consumers. Because Sanoma already reaches almost the entire Finnish population through its media portfolio, it is well positioned to capture a significant share of that advertising spend.

Sanoma’s 2025 results reflect a company in transition. Its Finnish media operations continue to operate in a structurally challenging environment defined by declining print revenues and cyclical advertising markets. Yet the division remains profitable and retains a uniquely dominant position in the national media landscape.

At the same time, the company’s learning business has become the primary driver of profitability and long-term growth. If curriculum renewals in Spain and Poland unfold as expected, Sanoma could see a meaningful acceleration in earnings over the next two years.