III. FORECAST, RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES REPORT
1. Forecast report
For the 2025 financial year, in light of the continuing circulation losses and the associated stagnation in revenues in our core market, we expect only a slight increase in revenue from organic growth. The reported forecast of around 3.4 million euros in revenue growth is mainly attributable to the transfer of dpa-infocom’s WebLine products to the dpa parent company, which will take effect for the first time for the full year, and was part of the planned integration of the digital editorial department into the dpa central editorial department that took place on July 1, 2024. In addition, further growth is expected for newer products such as Custom Content and dpa-Video, among others.
Due to rising expenses as a result of revenue-driven cost items and upcoming wage adjustments, as well as a significant overall decline in earnings contributions from subsidiaries, particularly due to the transfer of WebLine services from dpa-infocom, we expect to achieve a net profit of approximately 1.0 to 1.2 million euros for the year.
With regard to personnel costs, it should be noted that a 0.2 million euros increase in the allocation to the provident fund was planned and that the previous year was impacted by the inflation adjustment bonus.
Given the gloomy economic outlook, it remains to be seen to what extent the actual increase in revenue ultimately achieved on the market will reflect the revenue growth forecast in the budget and thus influence dpa’s annual results.
However, we expect total revenue to increase slightly in 2026 and anticipate a net profit for the year similar to that anticipated in 2025. The extent to which we can maintain this forecast will depend on further developments in the economic situation and, not least, on the outcome of the upcoming negotiations with our collective bargaining partners.
2. Risks and opportunities report
In a challenging market environment, the dpa group continues to focus on transformation and change in order to offer its customers appropriate and value-adding products and services. To this end, dpa has developed a new medium-term strategy that will serve as a guideline for its business activities in the coming years. The strategy is entitled “Adapt to Grow” and was developed jointly by the group’s management in several meetings. The focus is on artificial intelligence, video and digital excellence. The dpa group is focusing on expanding verified multimedia content, data expertise and new consulting services to create additional growth momentum. “Adapt to Grow” is a further development of the previous Magic Marketplace strategy.
dpa regards taking a holistic view of its business activities as the key to a successful future. This also includes sustainability reporting. dpa published its second sustainability report in 2024. Although the company is not yet subject to reporting requirements, the agency has disclosed various key figures, initiatives and targets. For the first time, dpa has also systematically examined its value chains and made them transparent. In addition, the topic of sustainability has been anchored more firmly than ever before in the company’s business processes.
Another key topic was the ongoing digitalisation and automation of work processes. This entails companies enabling their workforce to keep pace with the latest technologies. A decisive foundation for this was laid with the cooperation with you.com to support and enrich verified and fact-based journalism through generative AI. The creation of an RAG model that prepares dpa content for AI-based use presents great opportunities for the agency. The RAG, developed jointly with you.com, will have a positive impact on the way our own editors work. At the same time, it also offers the opportunity to make this application available to customers as a new product. The internal management trainee programme “dpa steps” was reconceptualised and relaunched with the aim of successfully guiding the organisation and workforce through these changes. The expansion of an internal “dpa Academy” for the group is planned for 2025 in order to respond flexibly and agilely to rapidly changing market conditions through targeted internal staff development.
With the creation of a new sales division, dpa is strengthening its partner management and support for institutional customers. The Public Policy and Platform Partnerships team manages customer relationships with governments, parliaments, political parties, government agencies, public foundations and organisations, as well as digital platforms. The focus is on further developing partnerships and implementing customer-specific requirements more quickly. With the new sales structure, dpa sees an opportunity to strengthen relationship management, which is important for this growth market, and to gain additional effectiveness by networking activities.
Disinformation – whether deliberately or unintentionally spread – poses a serious threat to the social discourse. dpa has further intensified its fact-checking activities and actively pursued networking with other fact-checking organisations. Among other things, the Faktencheck24 initiative, which offers various training courses for journalists, has been continued. With new content and a focus on AI, dpa has developed a comprehensive and accessible training programme for journalists. In addition, dpa has worked with its partners to expand the Teen Fact-Checking Network (TFCN), developed a toolkit for greater media literacy in schools and other institutions, participated in the FactCRISIS project against climate disinformation and taken part in a campaign to increase awareness about AI-generated content.
It is still unclear how the end of fact-checking on Meta’s US platforms will affect the German and European markets. In January 2025, Meta announced that it would end its cooperation with independent fact-checking organisations in the US. Such a move would be much more difficult to implement in Europe, as regulatory requirements in the European Union member states differ fundamentally from the US practice.
With its activities in the “Year of News”, dpa also worked to ensure that independent and non-partisan news journalism remains a pillar of information in our liberal, democratic society in the future. Together with various partners from the media industry and civil society, numerous activities have been initiated with the aim of promoting news literacy among young people so that they have the tools to interpret information appropriately. These included a communications campaign with the slogan “News that informs instead of stirring up emotions”, video and audio formats produced by a social news desk, regional news camps for schoolchildren, and cooperation projects between partner schools and local editorial offices. Thousands of teenagers and young adults were introduced to journalism in this way.
In 2024, a dpa journalist was killed in the line of duty for the first time. Photographer Anas Alkharboutli was killed in early December by a fighter jet near the Syrian city of Hama. He was only 32 years old. His outstanding work had been recognised internationally on numerous occasions. In 2020, he received the Young Reporter Trophy of the renowned French Prix Bayeux for war reporting. At the Sony World Photography Awards in 2021, he won in the sports category with an impressive series of photos of children at karate training. In memory of an outstanding and courageous journalist, dpa has exhibited numerous photos by Anas Alkharboutli in its Berlin newsroom.
The death of Anas Alkharboutli is a reminder that journalists are exposed to a wide range of dangers, especially in war and crisis zones. dpa is aware of its responsibility and duty of care towards its employees. The agency provides safety equipment and psychological support to ensure the best possible protection.
Another risk to which dpa and its employees are exposed is in the area of information security. Hacker attacks and other digital attacks can, in extreme cases, mean that dpa’s reporting is restricted or made considerably more difficult. dpa is working intensively to maintain and improve its protection against possible attacks. In addition, the information security department was further expanded during the reporting year and anchored in dpa’s structures. Various crisis exercises were held during the year, information security training courses were conducted for the group’s employees, and internal processes were further refined and specified.
There are currently no identifiable risks likely to occur that could jeopardise the continued existence of the company.
Despite stable figures for the 2024 financial year, dpa is obliged to exercise the utmost vigilance due to the uncertain global situation and the as yet unforeseeable effects of the policies of the new US administration under President Donald Trump. The immediate consequences for the German and European economies cannot yet be assessed. The gloomy economic expectations for 2025 underscore the need to act with foresight and caution and to consistently pursue our strategic goals.