Vocento launches a Strategic Plan to achieve double-digit average annual EBITDA growth between 2024 and 2029.

Vocento is presenting its 2025-2029 Strategic Plan this Friday, aiming to achieve average double-digit annual growth in gross operating profit (EBITDA) between 2024 and 2029 and increasing the contribution of its diversified businesses to 40% of the total by 2029.

The Plan defines a clear roadmap to transform the business model and consolidate Vocento as a more digital, agile, and profitable group.

At the Investor Day event held in Madrid, Vocento CEO Manuel Mirat explained that the new Strategic Plan focuses on the recovery of advertising revenue through data-focused strategies, the acceleration of the digital subscription model, business growth beyond the press, and a boost to efficiency.

The first pillar of the plan focuses on strengthening advertising revenue through greater use of data. Vocento is committed to evolving toward a single, cross-functional commercial structure, focused on the group's overall advertising budget.

This will strengthen the strategic relationship with media agencies and digital partners, with greater use of data and technology to increase the value of the offering and raise the average CPM of digital advertising. As a result, the digital segment is expected to contribute 50% of total advertising revenue for the Press by 2029, 15 percentage points above the current level.

Regarding the second axis, Vocento plans to accelerate its digital subscription model, with the redesign and redefinition of titles and products as levers to boost this line of business.

Vocento will move toward a model tailored to the specific characteristics of each publication, considering its positioning and level of competition. The new approach will allow for the definition of clear pricing policies and improve subscriber acquisition, management, and retention. Vocento has set a goal of reaching 320,000 digital subscribers by 2029, which practically doubles its current volume.

Another pillar of the Strategic Plan is business diversification beyond the press. In this regard, Vocento will continue to strengthen its position by promoting its agencies and strengthening its Classifieds and Gastronomy segments.

During the first quarter of this year, revenue from the diversified businesses (Agencies, Classifieds, Gastronomy, and Digital Services) generated €17 million, an 18% increase year-on-year. This led to a strong performance in the Group's business, driven by growth in Gastronomy (+12.5%), Classifieds (+34.7%), and Agencies (+23.3%). These businesses will already represent 30% of the Group's EBITDA before Structure by 2024.

Looking ahead to 2029, the company has set an average annual growth target of 5% in revenue and approximately 13% in EBITDA for these activities. Thus, diversified businesses will contribute approximately 40% of EBITDA before Structure in 2029.

Vocento will also analyze the launch of new thematic verticals, similar to gastronomy, opportunities in agencies, and potential strategic alliances, to accelerate the growth included in the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan.

As a fourth pillar, Vocento plans to achieve organizational optimizations and improvements, as well as generate savings, through an Efficiency Master Plan. The publishing group is working on redesigning its organizational model to avoid duplication, simplify structures, and centralize key functions such as systems and finance.

Along these lines, an efficiency program will be implemented between 2025 and 2026, aiming to generate annualized savings of €5 million and €4 million, respectively. This optimization will help contain operating costs and ensure stable EBITDA excluding severance pay from 2027 to a range of €36-40 million in 2029.

With all these measures, the expected annual ordinary cash flow for the 2027-2029 period is between €13 and €15 million, according to the report.