General ordinary shareholders meeting 2016

Juan Luis Cebrián: "The return to profit heralds a new era for PRISA"

José Luis Sainz: "The recovery of our company is robust, with great results for all operations. We look to the future with optimism"

The new Board of Directors re-elects the executive chair of PRISA until 2020 and sets up a Succession Commission

At PRISA’s AGM, held today in Madrid, Juan Luis Cebrian, Executive Chair, and José Luis Sainz, CEO, sounded an optimistic note as they accounted for the Group's performance, after having closed 2015 with a net profit of 5.3 million euros.

PRISA’s chairperson took stock of the company’s strong performance against a backdrop of political uncertainty in Spain and in other countries where the Group operates. He referred specifically to the nascent economic recovery in Spain, threatened by the lack of a new government. He also mentioned the cooling of the economies of Latin America. "Parliamentary turmoil, a lack of response to the social crisis, and institutional weakness are just some of the obstacles to growth that we ignore at our peril."

Nevertheless, Cebrián foresaw a bright future for PRISA, as the company has managed to significantly improve its balance sheet thanks to significant efforts to reduce debt by more than 3,500 million euros from its highest level in 2008, and strict cost control of more than 300 million euros a year, even amid falling advertising revenues and circulation in the Spanish press.

It is "the dawn of a new era," and, "the worst is over, and the company is alive and well" he told shareholders, adding that the company had even met its financial obligations ahead of schedule. There are no further such obligations until December 2018. He insisted that further efforts are needed to cut costs and in better defining the Group’s asset portfolio. 

Cebrián thanked the outgoing members of the Board of Directors, whose contribution has been crucial for strengthening capital structure, reducing debt and transforming the Group’s business model, and he welcomed the new members, including Joseph Oughourlian and Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani whose investments show a clear commitment to the future of PRISA, as well as the independents Blanca Hernández, Glen Moreno, Elena Pisonero and Alfonso Ruiz de Asín, who’ll be bringing their talent, experience and knowledge to the Group.

Cebrián highlighted the progress made in the field of Corporate Governance, as well as his"total and absolute commitment" to the company, and he made specific reference to the renewal of his contract as executive chairperson until 2020, the final two years on a non executive basis. He also announced the creation of a Succession Commission to oversee the eventual replacement of both the chairperson and CEO.

With the renewed governance structure and the balance sheet stabilized, the company is now focused on two clearly defined areas: the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets, and technological transformation. In this respect, Cebrián insisted that the targets originally set in 2010 to ensure that digital revenues accounted for 15% of the Group total had been met in the past year. In the next five years this figure should reach 40%, he added.

On the scope and geographical reach of the Group, the CEO José Luis Sainz spoke of the strength that comes from being present throughout Latin America, which "has helped over the years to balance the positive and negative cycles of the different countries where we operate and, almost always, has helped us to grow.” Now, "after several years of uninterrupted growth in Latin America that had largely offset the decline in business in the Iberian Peninsula,  it seems we are witnessing the opposite process: a recovery of the Iberian economies and widespread decline in the Americas

Sainz stressed that "development and international consolidation of our businesses is one of the major challenges in a Group where nearly 80% of our results and more than 60% of our workforce are outside Spain. We will gradually adapt our organization to that reality.”

The CEO explained that for "PRISA, the recovery is robust. Although the size of the debt is still significant, the Group has now left behind the risk of insolvency. It has weathered the crisis better than expected and better than most of its European counterparts – who are now announcing restructurings that have already been undertaken in Spain. 

He also outlined some recently announced transactions: the acquisition of the publisher Norma by Santillana, which "will strengthen our position in some of the most important markets in the Americas," and the Group’s continued commitment to audiovisual, despite the sale of Canal +, with the creation of “PRISA Video as the umbrella division for all our audiovisual operations: free-to-air TV, program production and the development of digital channels.” 

Both the executive chairperson and the CEO thanked the efforts of the Group’s professional teams, who, as José Luis Sainz said,  are "motivated and convinced that the future demands that we accelerate the pace of transformation.