The group, which employs 2,400 people worldwide, including 1,700 journalists, recorded a net profit of 10.6 million euros. It has become the world leader in fact-checking.
In the green for the third consecutive year, Agence France-Presse (AFP) increased its commercial revenue in 2021, a year marked by the signing of an agreement with Google on related rights, and generated a profit “historical”, she revealed on Wednesday.
Read alsoNeighboring rights: the magazine press validates the agreement proposed by Google
The commercial revenue of the group, which employs 2,400 people worldwide, including 1,700 journalists, increased by 4.1% compared to 2020. “This is very encouraging growth these days. We are reaping the fruits of our strategy», rejoices the CEO of AFP Fabrice Fries. The net result reached a level “historical” 10.6 million, compared to 5.3 million euros in 2020, and 0.4 million in 2019, the year in which AFP returned to profit for the first time since 2013.
This good result is partly explained by the agreement reached this fall with Google on neighboring rights, for a confidential amount, accompanied by a “transaction covering in particular lawyer’s fees” driven by two years of negotiation, explains Fabrice Fries. Enough to contribute to the repayment of AFP’s debt, planned in full by 2028, its level reaching 39.6 million euros in 2021, against 49.2 million at the start of 2018.
World leader in fact-checking
AFP’s video activity and its entity “digital forensics”, launched three years ago, stand out as the group’s first sources of growth. The group now has 120 fact-checkers working full-time in thirty countries, and whose content is distributed in 85 countries. At a time when misinformation is wreaking havoc, AFP asserts its status as the world leader in fact-checking. “Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have done 700 fact-checking publications, in around twenty languages such as Finnish, Hungarian, Polish or Romanian. About forty of our journalists are mobilized in the field», Specifies the CEO of the press agency.
In addition to video and digital investigation, the object of a partnership with the Meta group (Facebook, etc.), “activity for companies and institutions” enabled AFP to diversify its income, particularly via Factstory (formerly AFP Services, content creation subsidiary for brand communication).
“We want to invest these good results in grassroots journalism, which will benefit our media clients by offering them relevant and sometimes unique content, such as our coverage of the conflict in Ukraine.concludes Fabrice Fries. For 2022, the costs of the press agency are expected to rise significantly due to the intensity of editorial news and the inflationary context.