138 5 | Appendix Significant changes during the period covered by this Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report in the size, structure and ownership of the organization • PRISA revenues grew by 2.6% and EBITDA was up by 3.6% in constant currency. Net bank debt of the Group decreased by 173 million and stands at € 1.486 million as of De-cember 2016. Financial expenses were brou-ght down by reducing debt. • Changes to the Board of Directors of PRI-SA with the addition of independent external directors: Blanca Hernández, president of Fundación Ebro Foods; Elena Pisonero, Pre-sident of Hispasat; Alfonso Ruiz de Assin, a legal expert in the field of radio; and Domini-que D‘Hinnin, an outstanding media profes-sional in France; as well as the new external director representing significant sharehol-dings, Waleed Alsa’di, a leading professional in Qatar. • Santillana formalizes the purchase of Carvajal Soluciones Educativas, whose best-known publishing houses are Norma and Kapelusz. They have a long track record in publishing in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Puerto Rico. The acquisition complements and reinforces Santillana’s in-ternational commitment. • PRISA announces the start of the sales pro-cess of Santillana, due to take place in 2017. • Major appointments: Ignacio Soto, new Chief Revenue Officer of PRISA, Carina Pardavila, new managing director of PRISA Video, and Jon Ruiz, new general manager of Caracol Radio and PRISA Radio in Colombia. • PRISA celebrates two big anniversaries in 2016, with major initiatives that have stren-gthened brand perception, and boosted au-diences and revenues: 40 years of El País and 50 years of Los 40 Principales. • The SERES Foundation honors PRISA with SERES 2017 Award, which went to El País’s Planeta Futuro project. The jury lauded the promotion of CSR throughout the contents and the clear commitment to offering news on sustainable development. • The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and PRISA signed a fra-mework cooperation agreement to promote news and awareness on sustainable develo-pment in Ibero-America, focusing on issues of poverty, food security and climate change in the El País section Planeta Futuro. • PRISA joins the Steering Committee of the Spanish Global Compact Network. • PRISA reached an agreement with some of its main creditors to issue bonds mandatori-ly convertible into PRISA shares at 10 euros per share through the swap of financial debt. The amount of this issue has amounted to 100,742,090 euros, and conversion into PRI-SA shares is due to take place in 2018.
Informe_Anual_PRISA_EN
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