TX : Digitaler Halbjahresabschluss 2022

Zurich, 30 August 2022

Dear Shareholders
dear Staff Members
dear Friends and Partners of the TX Group

The year 2022 has brought unpleasant developments: We started the year full of hope for a swift end to the global Corona crisis. However, increasing worries soon overshadowed our hopes: War on our doorstep, an energy crisis within reach, the still unresolved pandemic and an unstable economic situation - all of these events trigger uncertainty.

TX Group cannot avoid these events, on the contrary. Our media are challenged to cover these challenging times with solid journalism. Providing citizens with independent information and the associated opportunity to form their own opinions is our responsibility and our contribution to a free democratic society - in these times more than ever. Reliable reporting in both Tamedia's paid media and 20 Minuten's free media is and remains the backbone of our business, that especially in a difficult phase fills us with pride.

Meanwhile, our media are in the process of adapting to today's social developments. We currently still reach the majority of readers through printed newspapers at Tamedia, while digital offerings already dominate at 20 Minuten. Both 20 Minuten (social media-first strategy) and Tamedia (introduction of new digital subscription models) took important steps towards digitalization at the beginning of the year. The development of a pioneering technology platform is at the top of the agenda for our advertising marketer Goldbach. This innovative strength is essential for the further development of our business models.

The challenging environment coupled with the transformation of the industry is leaving its mark on our traditional companies. Particularly in the case of Tamedia, the necessary growth of the digital user market and new revenue streams are unsatisfactory. The Group's organic revenue growth of 12 percent is largely due to new business in Goldbach's out-of-home advertising and JobCloud's exceptional performance. Last year's newly established Swiss Marketplace Group (SMG), to which we contributed our other online marketplaces (Homegate, Ricardo, Tutti, and Car For You) and in which we hold around 31 percent, has now established itself, laying the foundations for a promising future.

As the year advances, we need to build on the successes of out-of-home advertising, job portals and marketplaces, and also develop the growth areas in journalism with diligence and thoughtfulness to ensure our long-term success. In parallel, we must devote our attention to the challenging transformation within journalism and advertising. Sustainable business models must be developed and established so that we can fulfill our role within our free society - this is and remains irreplaceable and indispensable.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Pietro Supino

Chairman and Publisher