Orell Füssli Ltd

Orell Füssli significantly increased sales and earnings in 2023 - Seite 3

In a stagnating Swiss book market, Orell Füssli Thalia expanded its position as market leader and gained further market share. In 2023 the book retailing company opened five new shops in attractive locations with high customer footfall, such as shopping centres, railway stations and central city locations. As a result, sales in the bricks-and-mortar business significantly exceeded the previous year's figure. Revenue from online business even surpassed the record figures from years during the pandemic. Sales with business customers increased again in the past financial year.

A further expansion of the branch network is planned for 2024 with new locations in Aarau, Chur and Zug; the Rapunzel bookshop in Liestal was already acquired in January 2024. The larger footprint will lead to growing sales in 2024, however the profitability will be slightly lower than in 2023 due to higher operating costs.

Publishers

The Orell Füssli publishing houses with educational media, legal media and children's books look back on very a positive financial year 2023. Both sales and EBIT increased significantly compared to the previous year. The main driver of sales and earnings was the hep Verlag, a leading provider of Swiss educational media, which Orell Füssli acquired in mid-2022. The children's book programme with the two well-known children's book series Globi and Papa Moll had a solid year and almost achieved the objectives. Orell Füssli legal media continued it‘s growth trajectory. Among others, a new commentary on the completely revised Swiss Data Protection Act was published in the second half of the year.

Digital Credentials

Verifiable digital credentials represent a new and attractive business area with large international potential for Orell Füssli. At the end of 2023, the subsidiary Procivis launched the new, decentralised e-ID software solution Procivis One, which meets the high requirements of companies and government institutions for digital identities. It was developed in-house and fulfils the available technical specifications in Switzerland and the EU (eIDAS2). Procivis One is a pioneering and comprehensive technology for digital identities and verifiable digital credentials. It enables the implementation of an e-ID or a mobile driver's licence, but also allows other digital proofs such as ID cards, diplomas or confirmations to be issued and verified. With several proof-of-concept projects, various use cases with well-known companies were successfully tested last year. In 2024, Procivis One will be actively marketed to authorities and companies in Switzerland and abroad.