Meanwhile the company's losses fell to €5.1 million, from €1.4 million in 2021, the report states.

The Postimees Grupp board noted in its annual report just released that: "The keyword of the past few years is the digital era and the development of digital platforms."

"The development of the media has been characterized by a gradual fall in the market share of traditional media plus the onslaught of new channels and platforms, the development of interactive media and the promotion of electronic media," the statement added.

The group's business losses rose from €642,000 to €4.3 million between 2021 and 2022. Sales revenues from orders meanwhile increased by €1.6 million, to €13.3 million.

However, income earned from advertising sales fell by nearly €5.5 million, to €12.9 million, while revenue from book sales fell from €306,000 to €58,000 in 2022, the group states.

The group's results in the financial year ending April 2022 were affected by the increase in energy and raw material prices, including the increase in the price of print media

As for bright spots, the domestic Estonian advertising market continued to grow rapidly in the financial year ending in April and exceeded the pre-pandemic level in the second half of 2021, the group says, with rapid growth not only in TV but also in radio advertising.

At the same time, the advertising market was significantly negatively affected by the closure of Russian propaganda channels operated prior to the February invasion of Ukraine.

This creates both challenges and opportunities in altering the media consumption habits of Russian-speaking TV viewers, the company said, noting subsidiary company Duo Media Networks' unveiling of Russian-language TV channel Kanal 7 last year as one such example.

Postimees Grupp 2022 financial report quick facts:

• Postimees Grupp is owned by Margus Linnamäe (78 percent stake) and Ivar Vendelin (20 percent stake) via various holding companies. 
• Postimees Grupp has subsidiaries in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In addition to its national news portals, the group also includes several regional dailies including Tartu Postimees, Pärnu Postimees, Sakala (Viljandi County) and Virumaa Teataja (Lääne-Viru County).
• The group's average number of employees increased by 48 people to 554. 
• However, salary expenses fell from €13.6 million to €12.1 million.
• Main sources of income were advertising and subscription income. 
• Volume of digital orders increased by approximately 30 percent, though the report does not reveal how many digital orders in total were received.
• Online portal operations accounted for 68 percent of sales revenue, and newspaper publishing accounted for 22.6 percent. 
• Smaller proportion of revenue was earned from activities and other services of the group's head office and its news agencies.

Duo Media Networks quick facts:

• In 2020 the Postimees group separated the TV and radio channels into Duo Media Networks.
• Via holding companies, Linnamäe owns 62 percent of Duo Media Networks, Vendelin 16 percent, plus Risto Rosimannus and Jüri Pihel also own 10 percent.
• Duo Media Networks operates 15 TV channels in 30 countries and in six languages, and also owns six radio stations in Estonia.
• Duo Media Networks sales revenue of the latter in the last financial year was €20.5 million, of which 88 percent constituted domestic sales inside Estonia and 9 percent in the other Baltic States. 
• Duo Media Networks OÜ net loss reached €917,000, its business net loss, €816,833. 
• Average number of Duo Media Networks OÜ employees in the financial year was 121; company's labor costs amounted to €3,931,261 for the year.

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