The group reported financial results for 2025 on Thursday.
The 2025 operating profit was €151.8m, which was also up slightly on the 2024 results.
Subscription price adjustments and efficiency gains helped offset the impact of what the company described as a “a challenging market environment marked by far?reaching changes in the sector, rising costs and structural pressure on advertising revenues”.
The results show the shift to digital subscriptions gathered pace last year.
Digital subscriptions rose 8pc and passed one million for the first time last year, with nearly 60pc of all Mediahuis subscribers now on a fully or predominantly digital subscription, the company said.
Meanwhile, print presses in Amsterdam closed with capacity moved elsewhere in the group.
Antwerp-headquartered Mediahuis operates across Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany as well as in Ireland, and owns a range of media titles including established newspaper and digital brands, radio assets, classifieds business, and start-up stakes.
The Irish business includes the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and the new Crime World platform as well as regional titles such as The Kerryman and Wexford People.
The group also owns the CarsIreland and Carzone digital marketplace brands, and the Belfast Telegraph in Northern Ireland.
The 2025 financial result was positively impacted by one?off gains from the sale of assets, in particular the divestment of a 49pc stake in the Dutch company Automotive MediaVentions (AMV).
Divestments, combined with a strong operating cash flow and a limited level of investments, lifted the group’s cash reserves to €84.4m at the end of 2025.
The CEO of Mediahuis Group, Gert Ysebaert, said Mediahuis continued to deliver strong and stable results as a European media group.
“This gives us the confidence and the headroom to continue our transformation successfully and to fulfil our societal role within local communities. With a sharp focus and continuous innovation and, above all, thanks to the dedication of all our people, we are building the future of our strong journalism and strong brands every day,” he said.
Group CFO, Kristiaan De Beukelaer, said the business has a very strong balance sheet and pointed to expansion plans.
“This financial position gives us the scope to further support our international growth, accelerate our digital transformation and confidently address the technological challenges ahead,” he said.
The 2025 results do not reflect an impact from a fine of €7.79m announced last week by authorities in Belgium for Mediahuis’ part in rigging a public procurement process for a newspaper distribution concession in the country to ensure it remained with the postal service.
The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) said on Friday that Bpost, PPP, Mediahuis and DPG Media had been held liable for rigging a public procurement process for a concession to distribute newspapers across the country
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