Mirat commits to profitable growth in Spain and Latin America

PRISA sees opportunities in untapped consolidations within the media sector

The CEO of PRISA, Manuel Mirat, explained, in his speech to the general meeting of shareholders held in Madrid, that the Group's objective is to ensure the profitable growth of all its businesses, both in Spain and in Latin America.

“Now that the economic structure of the Group has been put on a stronger footing and after having weathered a complicated situation, we must now face the present and the future. And we do so with all the ambition that one would expect of a prestigious company such as ours, one that is renowned in Spain and Latin America, one whose goal is not merely to increase profitability and value for shareholders, but also to contribute to the improvement of society at large through the rigorous and responsible work of its brands and its professionals, in fields as sensitive as Education and News,” said Mirat.

He told shareholders of the most important decisions taken since he took over as CEO just over seven months ago: “Between last September and today, we have ruled out the sale of Santillana, we have restructured the debt, we have closed on a capital increase of EUR 563 million and we have carried out a thorough overhaul of the management team.”

PRISA’s most senior executive was eager to highlight "the extraordinary effort and the multiple sacrifices that PRISA shareholders have been making for a long time now, of the efforts made to remain firm in their commitment to the direction of this business project. That’s why I’d like to offer here my own firm commitment – and that of all the Group's professionals -– to repay their solid support with results. This is a commitment we cannot and must not shirk.”

He also paid a heartfelt tribute to his predecessor: “Over the course of much of my journey in the group, Juan Luis Cebrián has been at the helm. So I have  great affection and personal appreciation for him and I wish to pay tribute to the success he has contributed to the Company throughout his long career.”

Mirat explained that "Santillana is, without a doubt, a key asset and of particular importance, both strategically and thanks to its economic and financial weight. Its renown, as well as its presence and penetration in all the markets in which it operates, constitutes its enormous strength. Its combined market share in the territories in which it operates is 25%. Santillana is the leading company in its sector in Spain Latin America.”

The CEO also highlighted the lead enjoyed by the Group's brands in the News and Information sector, both in press and radio. And he singled out the EL PAÍS brand. “To make good on our commitment we are equipped with a brand that is influential and recognized worldwide: EL PAÍS. No other news brand is as strong in the Spanish-speaking world. We must, therefore, build around it a platform that will leverage its full potential both in Latin America and in Spain, that will consolidate its influence and that will expand the economic bases necessary to sustain a responsible news project.”

Mirat said a chief goal was to "to increase our share in the markets in which we are present, with news media projects and with a rationalization of assets that will enable us to not only improve the quality of our products, but also to ensure more profitable organic growth in the future." 

“What’s more”, he continued, “we also have a wide margin to increase the value and profitability of the company through non-organic growth in a sector such as News and Information, in which consolidations are still an untapped area.”

Digital development, both in the field of Education and in the field of News and Information, is another of the priorities set by PRISA's management, which will be accompanied by more rigorous management. “We have launched a new efficiency plan that focuses primarily on corporate structure, although by no means exclusively so. We are exhaustively reviewing all the group’s units in order to identify and leverage additional synergies, and to improve the way in which we currently operate”.