Fabrice Fries is reappointed as head of Agence France-Presse

A formality, or almost. Fabrice Fries, the president of Agence France-Presse (AFP) since April 2018, was reappointed for a second five-year term by a vote of the board of directors (CA) meeting Thursday, November 10 afternoon.

In an internal email titled “Stop or else”, sent a month ago the leader had informed the employees of his desire to continue his task at the head of the organization with missions of general interest – financed for one third by the State. The leader collected 14 positive votes (13 were necessary), for four abstentions and no votes against. If the vote had been negative, a call for candidates would have been launched. His new term will begin when the previous one expires on April 15, 2023.

The directors will no doubt have been sensitive to the consolidation of the financial situation of the company with 2,400 employees (including 1,700 journalists) which will achieve 320 million euros in turnover in 2022 (207 million in commercial revenue, 113 million in state support). Appointed in 2018 after the withdrawal of Emmanuel Hoog’s candidacy, his predecessor, Fabrice Fries, 62, can indeed boast of having handed over AFP “on track, regaining growth, profitability and attractiveness”.

“There will be no new departure plan”

“This is the story of a very rapid financial turnaround”, he declares to World. Upon his arrival, this enarque passed by the Court of Auditors, the Vivendi group, Atos or even Publicis Consultants (which he chaired), had found accounts in the red (20 million euros in losses between 2014 and 2018) . That year, the Court of Auditors had estimated that the management of the company sinned by excess of expenses and insufficiency of its commercial developments. Two flaws that Mr. Fries did his best to erase: in the balance sheet he provided to his board, and that The world was able to consult, the manager is pleased to have ” contents “ the increase in expenses (through a departure plan for 90 people, and a rationalization of real estate which enabled a saving of 3 million euros) and “expanded the product portfolio” with the development of the video offer and digital investigation. However, the hardest part is yet to come: this time, warns the CEO, “we are going to make lace” to remain profitable.

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The outbreak of war in Ukraine has indeed complicated an already difficult equation. On the one hand, media turnover (130 million euros) has been falling for three years; on the other, the “staff costs” (i.e. three quarters of operating expenses) automatically increase by 3 million euros annually. Since the beginning of the year, it has also been necessary to fight against the rise in energy prices, the appreciation of the dollar against the euro, while coping with the economic weakening of press publishers (dependent on increase in the price of paper) or even the threats hanging over fact-checking activities remunerated by Meta. “While AFP will have experienced strong revenue growth in 2021 (+ 4.2%) and 2022 (+ 5.1% projected), the progression will likely be more measured in the future”he writes to the administrators, many of whose questions have focused on the risk of the agency’s dependence on Gafam (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft), who are currently going through a difficult time.

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