For the third consecutive year there will be a Women In Tech event on International Women’s Day, March 8, in Stockholm. Six of Sweden's largest media and tech companies stand behind the event. Along with Bonnier, they are MTG, TeliaSonera, Google, Spotify and Schibsted.

In this unique collaboration, the largest companies in the industry join forces and together create a platform for women interested in the media and tech industries to meet and build networks for the future. A "Save the date" for the event, which will be held in Stockholm Conference Center, was sent out on the WIT Facebook and received an overwhelming response.

"With our strategy of transforming our businesses and brands, we see an urgent need to get the best teams possible onboard. And those teams should consist of a diversity of people to be able to meet the demands from our diverse customers. By supporting Women in Tech, we hope to inspire more women to go for a future in media and tech. Because we need them," says Anki Ahrnell, Chief Digital Officer at Bonnier AB. 

"In the last year we have hired some 400 new techies, and as you can see on our job listings, many of our companies are looking for talent to help us achieve our goals of providing excellent user experiences within media." 

The WIT team is currently working on the program and set-up for the day. Follow on LinkedIn and Facebook to get the updates as the details are set! 

Women in Tech started as an event on International Women’s Day in 2014. Over the years, the event has grown into a community, a platform and a movement. The mission for the initiative is to inspire talented women to consider a future in media and technology by providing the network and experience of successful women and men from the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds.

The Saint Petersburg-based investment company Fort Group acquires the majority stake in Delovoy Peterburg. Bonnier remains as minority owner, with 20 percent of the shares, the cap mandated by the Russian law that limits foreign ownership of Russian media.

In Fontanka.ru, Bonnier's majority stake is acquired by the founders, who have remained in key positions and as minority owners ever since Bonnier acquired 51 percent of Fontanka in April 2013. 

Anders Eriksson, Business Area Head of Bonnier Business to Business:
”We are pleased to have been able to complete these two agreements. We are also pleased that the buyer, in the case of Delovoy, is a company that we know through previous partnerships, and in the case of Fontanka, the very founders of the business. We have always been committed to the editorial independence and the long-term development of our Russian media. That is why we have been eager to stay in the Russian market, even if the shape and form of our market presence and ownership has been limited severly by the new legislation.” 

Børsen is Denmark’s leading business newspaper and platform for business and financial news. The paper has a circulation of 48,000 copies, reaching close to 150,000 readers daily, and its digital editions accumulate more than 20 million page views per month. The Børsen media house also includes Børsen Associated Media (BAM), which manages Danish medical newspaper Dagens Medicin, e-learning operations and digital management handbooks.

Bonnier’s CEO Tomas Franzén, comments on the sale:
“This is a very good deal for Bonnier. Through this sale, we’re freeing up resources for continued investment and acquisitions in areas where we see opportunities for future growth and better returns. It will aid us in our efforts to increase our share of new, primarily digital income from 15 per cent last year to 50 per cent by 2020.”

“Under Anders Krab-Johansen’s leadership, Børsen has shown an incredibly strong performance, and is now a vibrant media house with a unique position as an agenda-setter in the Danish business world. In JP/Politikens Hus, Børsen will acquire an owner who shares Bonnier’s decidedly long-term view on media ownership,” says Franzén. 

On the strength of its core competence in editorial content, in recent years, Børsen has successfully adapted its business to suit an increasingly digital media market. Between 2012 and 2014, Børsen reported three consecutive record profits. During this period, BAM’s operations also went from reporting losses to achieving strong profitability.

“Børsen is a clear and independent voice in the Danish media landscape. In JP/Politikens Hus, Børsen will acquire an owner who, like Bonnier, combines professionalism with a strong tradition of independent journalism,” comments Anders Krab-Johansen, Børsen’s editor-in-chief and CEO.

Børsen is part of the business area Bonnier Business to Business. The newspaper was founded in 1896, and Bonnier has been an owner since 1969.

JP/Politikens Hus is one of Denmark’s leading media companies. Among its other operations, the company manages the three daily newspapers Jyllands-Posten, Politiken and Ekstra Bladet.

For more information, contact: 

Tomas Franzén, CEO, Bonnier AB, +46 8 736 40 00
David Salsbäck, Director of Communications, Bonnier AB, +46 8 736 40 47

For the TV4 Group, the Swedish network's 25th year was one of the best ever in terms of viewers and consumption.

Digital viewing for on-demand service TV4 Play nearly doubled with streaming starts increasing from 135.2 million to 263.7 million from 2014, and 60 million hours of consumed content versus 33.5 million in 2014, an all-time high of new viewers reached. TV4 Play also increased the lead over its commercial rivals. In terms of share, the TV4 Group had its second best year ever for linear TV with 31.5 percent for 15-64-year-olds, and for the channel TV4, it was the best year since 2007 with 20.9 percent share for the same age group. The group's big initiative to focus on unique Swedish content within all genres as well as a stronger digital focus are key factors to the success.

"During 2015, TV4 celebrated its 25th birthday," says TV4 Group CEO Casten Almqvist. "To start 2016 together with our viewers, users and customers with such a strong year behind us gives us something to truly build on. Which is to be better at meeting users where and how they want to be met."

Online retailer Adlibris is the No. 1 e-commerce site in Sweden, according to a recent consumer survey by Market, the country’s top trade magazine for the retail industry. Taking the No. 2 spot was Ikea.se.

In the survey, which asked consumers about 326 brands within the Swedish e-commerce sector, 54 percent were familiar with Adlibris, with 82 percent finding it easy to shop at Adlibris.com, 83 percent saying that Adlibris has a good selection of products, and 70 percent agreeing that Adlibris' prices are good.

“This is a very important seal of approval for us. It shows what a strong online retail position Adlibris has, with strong potential for continued growth, as we achieved in 2015,” says Johan Kleberg, CEO for Adlibris. “But most of all, it shows that our significant efforts at strengthening the customer experience at Adlibris have shown results, and competence within the Adlibris group is unique within Nordic e-commerce.”

Bonnier Business Media and Business Insider have signed a collaboration agreement stipulating that Bonnier Business Media will publish Business Insider Nordic. According to the agreement, Business Insider’s web traffic from the Nordic region will be re-routed to the new Business Insider Nordic edition.

The editorial office of Veckans Affärer will be responsible for keeping Business Insider relevant to all Nordic visitors. It will also contribute unique content regarding the Nordic markets to Business Insider Nordic as well as the global news room. The content will be produced in English. Veckans Affärer will also be in charge of optimizing the website’s traffic.

"We are very excited to have joined forces with Business Insider here in the Nordics," says Mikael Nestius, CEO of Bonnier Business Media and editor-in-chief of Veckans Affärer. "Business Insider and VA.se to a great extent pursue the same target groups and have websites that are similar in many ways. Both are highly geared towards social media, and our visitors and prime target group consist of young and ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs as well as the people striving to be part of the same group."

"Bonnier is our ideal local partner – digitally savvy, smart, and is the leader in their market – and we are thrilled to be working with them to launch Business Insider Nordics," says Julie Hansen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Business Insider. "Business Insider's audience in the Nordics is already sizable and we're confident that Bonnier and Veckans Affärer will grow it exponentially by creating a great local experience, and from there, a great digital business."

Köket.se, the heart of a new Swedish food and baking eco-system, launched earlier today. Offering consumers a full-range food experience, everything from inspiration to shopping, köket.se is an initiative of Swedish television TV4 Group. Köket.se gives advertisers as well access to new integrated holistic solutions and platform-agnostic collaboration.

“Köket.se is fun and functional, users can easily find what they’re looking for,” says Camilla Everberg, business area manager for food at the TV4 Group. “It will be the obvious place for anyone interested in food and baking, and give our advertising partners new possibilities to reach an active, interested and attractive target audience. During 2016, köket.se will undergo continuous development with new content, new functions and new opportunities.”

Recept.nu, which collected all recipes from the TV4 Group’s different food programming, chefs as well as popular cookbooks, will be transferred to köket.se as part of the launch. Köket.se has some 27,000 recipes from a range of well-known Swedish chefs, who will also offer their best tips, recipes and inspiration.

For advertisers, there will be greater possibilities to work closely digitally with the different program formats and profiles, as well as with relevant holidays and themes around food and baking. Focus for development will be on video and new smart services and functions.

Also part of the köket.se will be online store Kökets favoriter (kitchen favorites), launched last fall by the TV4 Group together with online retailer Adlibris.com, selling cookware, bakeware and tableware from leading brands. 

Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter (DN) is starting a new website, DN Global Utveckling, to cover the work of the United Nations’ 17 goals aimed at creating sustainable development for our earth.

The initiative is part of the European Journalism Centre’s “Innovation in Development Reporting” project. The paper competed against an international roster of media companies, winning a spot along with De Correspondent (the Netherlands), Spiegel Online (Germany) and WeltN24 (Germany), all of whom will receive funding under the project.

Dagens Nyheter published in an article about the initiative: “The sustainable development goals, established in September 2015, are aimed not just at governments and aid agencies. To reach the 2030 goals, business and the general public need to be involved. With new partnerships, the gap between public, private and non-profit players must be closed.

“It also affects different areas of journalistic monitoring. To cover what is being done with the U.N. goals, Dagens Nyheter is creating a special online section under dn.se called Global utveckling [global development].”

The launch has started already with a Facebook page and a Twitter account, @DN_SDG. Thomas Frostberg, financial columnist for the southern Swedish paper group HD-Sydsvenskan's site 8till5.se will be editor.

With political tensions rising everywhere and polite debate a thing of the past, not least in Poland, the business news group Bonnier Business Polska (BBP) decided it was time to do something about it. What they came up with was dyskusja.biz, a premium blog platform that aims to combat the divisive atmosphere by providing a forum for reasonable discussion.

“We kept observing, with the immigration crisis and the outcome of last year’s elections in Poland, that the language of hate is starting to dominate public discussion. That’s why we created an independent place where experts can discuss using arguments not based on prejudices,” says Przemek Barankiewicz, CDO for Bonnier Business Polska.

The platform hosts more than 50 bloggers writing about business and politics, a mix of well-known and upcoming economists, entrepreneurs, analysts, politicians, journalists and bloggers, carefully chosen beforehand by business daily Puls Biznesu’s Grzegorz Nawacki, who runs the project along with a team originally from Bankier.pl, BBP’s online portal business. “Some are famous, some we found on the Internet and some asked to join,” says Barankiewicz. “We wanted to build a critical mass of at least 40 before we started, now we’re getting two to three new bloggers a day who want to be part of it.”

The platform is a stand-alone, albeit with support from Bankier.pl and Puls Biznesu, which is allowed to reuse the material in print. As the platform grows, the plan is to acquire more existing bloggers currently on independent platforms and then monetize dyskusja.biz, sharing revenues with the writers.

The newly launched platform has had 55,000 unique visitors and 110,000 page views already in the first week, and Barankiewicz has high hopes for it. “We’re helping provide a place for reasonable, fact-based conversation, which is important for a free society,” he says. “At the same time, we think it has good business potential, both for us and for our bloggers.”

Adjusted for C More’s performance, which halved losses compared to the previous year, Bonnier AB’s EBITA for 2015 was more than SEK 100 million better than for 2014.*

Says Bonnier AB’s CEO Tomas Franzén:

“I’m very pleased that during 2015 we achieved operating profits that were in line with what we had planned, while at the same time we made significant investments in all our business areas. Behind the stable profits lies intensive work in developing services and products, so that we can meet our strategy goal of 50 percent of our revenues coming from new sources, primarily digital, by the year 2020.

During 2015-2018, we will save SEK 2 billion. In part, through cost-savings in our traditional businesses, in part by efficiency measures and lowered purchasing costs. The SEK 2 billion will be directly reinvested in services and products that increase our digital revenues, primarily from the end customer.

For 2015, I would especially like to mention growth in our smallest business area, Business to Business, with its continually improved margins and a track record of successful acquisitions. From being a business area dominated just a few years ago by traditional print business dailies, a majority of revenues now come from digital business media and services.

Just days after 2015 became 2016, we announced an agreement to sell the Danish business daily Børsen**. It’s a good deal for Bonnier, showing we are prepared to make the right business deals in the right circumstances. The sale will provide money for continued acquisitions of purely digital businesses.

Together, these measures – cost-savings, investments, acquisitions and divestments – contribute to our move toward more sustainable revenues and a stronger Bonnier over the long term. In the upcoming years, our new services in digital books and OTT, among others, will reach the market. We expect that 2016 will be a year where our digital revenues show powerful growth.”

Books’ revenues increased, with an EBITA of SEK 422 million (437). Bonnierförlagen in Sweden had a very strong year with improved profitability. Bonnier’s German book publishing group, the business area’s biggest, again showed solid results. Bonnier Publishing, through organic growth as well as an ambitious acquisition agenda, grew into the U.K.’s fourth largest book publisher, with steadily improving profitability. In a still tough Finnish book market, Bonnier increased its position in retail sales, partially via strong growth for online retailer Adlibris, partially with the acquisition of the Academic Bookstore chain, with its base in Helsinki. During 2015, the new digital book service with a mobile focus, BookBeat, was developed and launched in beta; it will be fully launched on the market in 2016.

Broadcasting’s EBITA was SEK 417 million (589*). The Swedish TV4 Group is strong and continues to invest heavily in content and technology. The successful focus on local content spurred an increase in linear viewing and digital consumption nearly doubled, resulting in both national and digital sales records. C More, through business deals in Norway and Denmark, reversed trends and showed improved results. C More will develop further from a Nordic pay network into a digital-first company, and continue to invest in content and technology. News production company Nyhetsbolaget achieved a new balance, showing positive numbers and working further at creating profitability through new customers and an increased digital focus. In a persisting tough macroeconomic climate in Finland, MTV improved its results through structural changes and cost-savings. The network sold its radio operations, Radio Nova, to Bauer Media in 2015.

Business to Business continued its strong growth curve during 2015. The business area improved its results for the seventh year in a row and broke new profit records with an EBITA of SEK 171 million (132). The year was marked by a strong focus on the digital transformation of its core business and an increased pace of acquisitions. Among these were Poland’s biggest business site, Bankier.pl, one of Germany’s leading business news sites, DWN, as well as Clio Online, Denmark’s leading company for digital learning materials for elementary schools. During 2016, a number of key initiatives are planned for expansion into new markets, as well as continued acquisitions.

Growth Media, with its focus on digital companies with global potential, in 2015 invested in podcasting platform Acast and virtual reality game studio Resolution Games. Ownership shares were increased in cash-back site Refunder and multi-channel network United Screens. .Stockholm-based content agency Spoon made several investments during the year, with the goal of broadening its offer digitally and geographically. Kid’s app developer Toca Boca, Evoke Gaming, TV production company FLX and the newly started media company KIT are among other wholly or partially owned growth companies that are part of the business area. The EBITA was SEK -127 million (-189). The improved results are due primarily by Svensk Filmindustri’s turnaround to profitability, from a clear loss in 2014. Svensk Filmindustri has, since its merger with Swedish production company Tre Vänner in 2013, focused on developing its production, illustrated by the success of the film En man som heter Ove (a man called Ove), seen by 1.4 million Swedes in the cinema.

Magazine’s EBITA was SEK 250 million (310). The lower results were due in large part to changes in Danish value-added tax rules. Copenhagen-based Bonnier Publications’ home segment titles, Bo Bedre (better living) and Vi i Villa (living in houses), had markedly improved results, and the entire business area increased digital reveneus as well as revenues from adjacent services. Accelerated growth from these revenue sources will continue to be in focus. Lars Dahmén became the new CEO for Bonnier Tidskrifter in Sweden in August, and took over as head of the business area in early 2016. In 2015, Eric Zinczenko took over as CEO for Bonnier Corporation in the U.S. and at the start of 2016, Jesper Buchvald took over as CEO for Bonnier Publications.

News delivered very strong results for 2015, despite continued decreases in print ad sales and falling circulations. The EBITA increased to SEK 363 million (332) at the same time the business area increased investments in digital development by SEK 125 million over the previous year, as well as made continued investments in new competences. Swedish news daily Dagens Nyheter had record reader income for the sixth year in a row. Business daily Dagens industri successfully grew its event business and increased total income. The digital transformation of afternoon daily Expressen’s ad business continued in full force and resulted in an increase for total ad sales. HD-Sydsvenskan’s efforts in integrating the operations of the two newspapers in southern Sweden resulted in profits that exceeded the prognosis of the acquisition budget. After many years of negative results, printer group Bold made a turnaround, showing a profit with new income from external customers and increased capacity utilization.

Other includes common group activities and functions. The effect on EBITA from these activities was SEK -488 million (-508).

Gearing Ratio (net debt in relation to shareholder’s equity) was 1.05 (0.82). The group’s available liquidity, in the form of liquid assets and undrawn credit reserves, continues to be very good and as of the end of December 2015, amounted to SEK 6.3 billion.

* C More was not part of Bonnier AB in 2014.

** The agreement is subject to approval by Danish competition authorities, a process expected to take approximately six months.

Further information: David Salsbäck, Director of Communications, +46 736 4047 

Note: This text is a translation of the Swedish original. In case of any discrepancies between the Swedish text and the English translation, the Swedish text supersedes the translation.

In a new cross-border joint venture, Bonnier Books is bringing some of the top authors of its non-English publishers to an English-speaking public with Manilla, a new imprint that is a join venture of Bonnier Zaffre in the U.K. and Ullstein in Germany.

The new imprint will kick off with six books from some of Ullstein's top authors this spring, with another six later in the year for a total of 12 during 2016. For 2017, the imprint plans to add books from Piper Verlag in Germany, as well as books from Bonnier Books publishers in Finland and Poland.

"In fiction, especially popular fiction, it's not easy to find an Anglo-Saxon publisher willing to invest in the translation - only 3 percent of books in English are translations. Even if the book had been a tremendous success in the German-speaking countries, its qualities being hailed by readers, rights sold to other countries," says Ulrike Stenglin, who works with the initiative from the Ullstein side.

"In the last few years however, we have seen popular fiction translated from German gain momentum in an international market: Oliver Pötzsch, whose books no traditional U.S. publisher wanted to translate, sold over a million copies via Amazon; Petra Durst-Benning, Corinna Bomann and Nele Neuhaus all sell well internationally. At Manilla we believe here are no boundaries to a good story."

As for the name Manilla, Stenglin explains that it comes from the Bonnier family mansion in Stockholm, which is called Nedre Manilla. "Its eventful international story represents the idea of our joint venture!" she says. 

Nordic content agency Spoon has announced it has become a partner in marketing automation expert Infunnel.

“The developments within marketing automation are very exciting and our joint offering has already got a good grip on the market. Our services complement each other and make this a natural investment for us,” says Anders Ribba, CEO of Spoon.

Infunnel has quickly established itself among the most skilled consulting companies within marketing automation, and Spoon and Infunnel already have several joint customers. Both Spoon and Infunnel deliver vital parts of the companies’ focus on automated lead generation. The two companies will now be working together to further develop the business with the ambition to have the strongest competitive offer for the Nordic market when it comes to marketing automation. The efforts will be led by Johan Sjöberg from Spoon and Jerker Hörstedt from Infunnel.

Gunilla Herlitz, with a background as a reporter and news editor for Swedish national dailies Dagens industri and Expressen, among others, she became editor-in-chief for Dagens industri in 2003 and eventually CEO. She moved on in 2009 to take on the role of publisher for Dagens Nyheter. Since 2011, she has also been board chair for southern Swedish daily Sydsvenskan and printer group Bold. As head of the Bonnier News business area, in 2014 she also became CEO for Expressen and Dagens industri.

Bonnier AB’s CEO Tomas Franzén says:

“Gunilla Herlitz has made decisive contributions to Bonnier. During a very critical stage, she led Dagens Nyheter from big losses in 2008 and 2009 to many successive years of stable profits and record-high reader revenues. Our daily newspapers’ results for 2015, with continued increased profits in a very tough market, is the latest example of Gunilla’s successful efforts, done in close cooperation with the powerful editorial leaders of each of the newspapers. Now that Gunilla has decided to move on, she will be leaving a void, but I understand her decision after many years in top management within Bonnier.”

Gunilla Herlitz says:

"Nothing is more fun than working in media. That's what I thought in 1984 when I started as a reporter, and I still think so. It has been an fantastic privilege to work with so many incredibly gifted people and with owners who take the long view. Finding ourselves in the middle of a huge shift has been stimulating, and I'm convinced that the journalism we do has never been more important than it is today.

"But it's time for me to do something else, what that will be I don't know yet. It certainly will be a freer existence, which I'm looking forward to.

"The newspapers within Bonnier News are doing well. Our journalism reaches more people than ever before, and profits are stable in a time where many media companies have it very tough. We've made big digital investments and changes, which make me feel we have a bright future."

Gunilla Herlitz will continue as head of the business area until summer, and the process of finding a replacement has already started.

“Now we have a great opportunity to solve the issue of a successor without rushing, finding the leadership for News that will secure a continued focus on digital services and revenues, while our newspapers develop their journalistic products,” says Tomas Franzén.

Earlier today, the Bonnier Award for investigative journalism in Estonia was presented in Tallinn to winning reporter Tuuli Jõesaar of national daily Eesti Päevaleht. This is the 19th year in a row the independent prize has been awarded. 

Jõessar won from among 18 nominees for her investigation on the use of the toxin chlorine dioxide as a "miracle" cure for children. The series of articles on chlorine dioxide, known as MMS in Estonia, demonstrated how widely popular pseudoscience really is in the country.  After the articles were published, the police launched an investigation into the activities of chlorine dioxide promoters. Police and child welfare inspectors visited homes that had reported using the substance on children, and the Estonian Medical Association expelled a doctor who was a chlorine dioxide enthusiast.

The finalists for the prize were:

Piret Reiljan, Koit Brinkmann and Katariina Krjutshkova of business daily Äripäev for their investigation on a business coalition of fuel companies who influenced government decisions for their own benefit following elections. 

Tarmo Vahter, Mikk Salu and Margus Järv of news weekly Eesti Ekspress for their investigation into the financial activities of a political family.

The new SF Kids Play service is ad-free and features the best content from around the Nordic region and the most popular international characters. From Astrid Lindgren's beloved classics to animated favorites like Alfie Atkins and newer international characters such as Maya the Bee, Roary the Racing Car and Peppa Pig.

The content on SF Kids Play is chosen for kids to enjoy and parents not to have to worry about. The service is designed specifically for children, it's simple, playful and fun, even for the very youngest. The smart controls for parents let them have an influence on their children's viewing without limiting the choices available.

"It's a treasure chest chock full of movies and series, packaged in a new concept, and it's fantastic to be able to offer all of this to families with kids in the entire Nordic region," says Jonas Fors, CEO for Svensk Filmindustr. "The selection of entertainment for children online is huge, but what's been missing up until now is a secure corner that offers a mix of classics with the latest kids' favorites.

"The movie industry is, like many other industries, constantly developing. Svensk Filmindustri faces many exciting challenges, and this is a way of broadening our business."

With SF Kids Play, the whole family can enjoy high-quality movies and TV series, while saving their own favorites with a heart. By using the offline function, content can be downloaded so kids can easily have access to entertainment whenever it's best for the family.

Regardless of whether you watch on a computer, smartphone or tablet, the service is simple and intuitive. A number of new exciting functions are being developed and new films and series will be available every month.

"It's been such a fun and educational project where we've turned a new concept into a completely new digital service launched on the market in less than a year," says Jens Håkansta, project manager for SF Kids Play. "Plus, we did it in a very cost-effective way, with a small internal team and smart use of external leading specialized competence. It's an important part of our strategy to take a strong position in the market and build business-to-consumer competence, where SF Kids Play is the start of an array of exciting new digital niche concepts for Svensk Filmindustri."

Read more and sign up for SF Kids Play at www.sfkids.com.

At 1 p.m. this afternoon, the Women in Tech conference kicks off in Stockholm. Bonnier is a proud sponsor of the event, one of seven main sponsors in a unique collaboration that includes Google, King, MTG, Schibsted, Spotify and Telia Sonera as well.

If you weren’t lucky enough to get one of the tickets, watch the event via livestreaming here.

Or follow along in social media via #WITsthlm2016.

In November 2013, the Bonnier News business area acquired 49 percent of Malmö-based Next Solutions AB, which operates real estate listing site HittaHem. Extensive work was then done to integrate HittaHem's matching services with the websites of Bonnier's Swedish daily papers. Now Bonnier News has become majority owner.

"We saw that the market for real estate listings was quickly changing, and that there was a big need to connect real estate announcements with smart digital matching tools, " says Henrik Stangel, outgoing sales director for Bonnier News. "Now, we've tested the business model and seen that it works. That's why we are increasing our ownership."

Bonneir News will acquire shares from other shareholders to increase its ownership to over 90 percent of the company.

"Acquisitions are an important component for us in growing our business and meeting the digital transformation with a much bigger share of digital revenues," says Tomas Franzén, CEO for Bonnier AB. "The increased engagement in HittaHem is a natural step for Bonnier."

Some 190 guests from around the Bonnier world mingled, dined and celebrated the finalists and winners at the Bonnier Sales Awards. Bonnier CEO Tomas Franzén served as host and TV4 personality Renée Nyberg as MC, with entertainment from Swedish popstars Danny Saucedo and Amanda Winberg. Winners of the awards, which honor top sales staff and efforts within Bonnier, were announced throughout the evening.

Earlier in the afternoon, attendees attended a seminar on how culture and perceptions affect sales, with psychologist and management expert Christian Walén and anthropologist and communications specialist Colin Moon.

The winners were:

Sales Rookie of the Year
Kenn Holm Nikolaisen, Benjamin Media, Denmark
The jury wrote: Credible and trustworthy, the customers of Benjamin Media’s Kenn Holm Nicolaisen feel they are always top of mind – and they love him for it. He has been key to re-establishing the Danish Bil Magasinet as an attractive advertising medium.

Sales Case of the Year
Harley-Davidson Market Share Dominance - Corey Eastman, Sadie Huemmer and Dennis Scully, Bonnier Motorcycle Group
The jury wrote: Faced with a challenge to its market dominance, Harley Davidson was convinced by the Bonnier Motorcycle Group with sales staff Sadie Huemmer, Dennis Scully and Corey Eastman to take a new approach to its advertising. The result was the group’s biggest single ad sale ever, a comprehensive campaign that involved a huge share-of-voice across the group’s 12 brands as well as sister brands, extensive retargeting and an experiential ride event resulted in testimonials to add to the mix, plus an exhaustive research study from Bonnier Custom Insights.

Sales Managers of the Year
Anna Arvidsson, Expressen/Bonnier News Brand Studio
Anna Arvidsson of Expressen is courageous and exceptionally talented, which has helped her as she built up a new department. She not afraid to take hard decisions that help her team truly perform. Her expertise in data-driven solutions and ability to focus on the big picture has meant greater revenues for the business.
Johan Danielsson, Bonnier Publications
Johan Danielsson of Bonnier Publications is an excellent sales person, colleague and business man, all in one package. He knows how to motivate his team and the result is a proud sales staff with a high drive to perform. His ability to tackle new business challenges with a positive attitude and energy really boosts his team. 

Sales Representative of the Year
Malena Ogemar, TV4
Malena Ogemar of TV4 puts collaboration first. Driven, focused and results-oriented, she always delivers beyond expectations, no matter how big her work load is. She is always there for her colleagues, while her customers highly value her efficiency and responsiveness.

The total prize money given out was EUR 48,000. Prizes for Sales Representative of the Year and Sales Manager of the Year are each worth EUR 10,000 and Sales Case of the Year EUR 15,000. The Rookie of the Year receives EUR 3,000 and a place at GRID, Bonnier’s annual internal inspiration summit.

Winners of the Finnish Grand Prize for Journalism were announced in Helsinki yesterday. Four winners were chosen from among 738 nominations. The prize is worth EUR 7,500 in each category. Bonnier is founder and sponsor of the independent prize. The winners were:

Journalistic Article/Episode of the Year

Jessikka Aro, Yle Kioski
The jury wrote: Russian Trolls in Finland, Jessikka Aro's investigative series, covered Russia's online propaganda and atttempts to influence public opinion in Finland. English- and Russian-language versions of the episodes also attracted considerable attention. After the episodes were broadcast, international media took note of Aro and she's helped others to investigate propaganda in their own countries. Following the broadcast, Aro has faced intense intimidation, a propaganda campaign against her and attempts to silence her.

Finalists included: Tuomo Pietiläinen, Helsingin Sanomat for "Bergsråden Moved to Portugal"; and Mirva Heiskanen, Pekka Lähteenmäki, Ismo Virta and team, Talouselämä for "Are Media Dying?" (The team included Reijo Ruokanen, Anne Vanhanen, Erkka Felt, Marjut Nousiainen, Pekka Lähteenmäki, Ilkka Jauhiainen and Ninni Myllyoja.)

Journalistic Achievement of the Year

Anne Leppäjärvi, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences' Journalism Education
The jury wrote: Technical university Haaga -Helia's journalism program is lead by educational program director Anne Leppäjärvi, who strives to provide solutions to remedy the media crisis. The educational program provides good networks and develops new ways of working in journalism. Anne Leppäjärvi's role in this has been central.

Finalists included: Aamulehti's culture desk: En vecka i Tallinn. The culture desk team included: Markus Määttänen, Simopekka Virkkula, Anne Välinoro, Matti Kuusela, Nina Lehtinen, Erik Ahonen, Tiina Leinonen, Pekka Kymäläinen and Kimmo Penttinen. Also finalsits were Tuomas Peltomäki and team from Uutisraportti, HSTV/Nelonen. The team included Paavo Teittinen, Jussi Sippola, Henry Lehto, Maria Pettersson, Juha-Pekka Raeste, Pekka Torvinen, Kimmo Norokorpi, Jussi Pullinen, Paavo Järvilehto, Boris Stefanov, Uolevi Holmberg, Matti Nousiainen, Mikko Peura, Janne Elkki and Kristiina Marttinen.

Book of the Year

Kimmo Oksanen, Kasvonsa menettänyt mies, published by WSOY
The jury wrote: "What's left when a man literally loses his face, through which other people meet him? The tough experiences give new strengths, a gift of more sensitively discovering what one can do for others. A deeply human account of the relative nature of life's difficulties.

Finalists included: Niina Junttila (Kavereita nolla - Lasten ja nuorten yksinäisyys, Tammi) and René Nyberg (Viimeinen juna Moskovaan, Siltala).

Journalist of the Year

Tom Kankkonen, Yle Nyheter
The jury wrote: Tom Kankkonen's reporting from Syria, Iraq and Turkey have brought events in the regions of conflict closer to Finnish TV viewers and radio listeners. Kankkonen stubbornly finds his way to difficult spots, contextualizing and  scrutinizing as he goes. He keeps his calm, rational and trustworthy demeanor in tough situations.

Finalists included: Vesa Sirén, Helsingin Sanomat och Markus Leikola, freelancer.

Jury
Jouko Jokinen, editor-in-chief, Aamulehti; Vesa-Pekka Koljonen, newspaper advisory, editor-in-chief emeritus; Leena Majander-Reenpää, direktor, FILI Finnish Literature Exchange; Tuomo Mörä, jury secretary, university lecturer, Helsinki University; Pekka Seppänen, columnist, journalist, board chair, Gummerus Kustannus; Leeni Peltonen, freelance journalist, media entrepreneur; Riitta Pihjalamäki, head of journalistic standards and ethics, Yle; Paula Salovaara, media entrepreneur and journalist in Esbo; Jari Tourunen, journalist, PhD; Merja Ylä-Anttila, jury chair, editor-in-chief, MTV news and current affairs. 

Jury members do not take part in deliberations of nominations that affect their own media.

Daily newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Expressen and long-format journalism media site Kit were winners in the Årets Tidning - paper of the year - prizes given by Tidningsutgivarna, the Swedish Media Publishers' Association.

The awards were:

Overall Prize

Expressen
The jury wrote: "Convinced that the meaning of journalism (in its DNA) leaves nothing to chance in order to give the public the right content in the right channel at the right time.  A systematic work collaboration during the year has resulted in numbers that just increase and increase, pointing the business in the right direction. The speed of updating is superior, beating even the radio - and the audience keeps up with smart phones in hand. The newspaper of the Year punctures the myth that print is going down.

News Desk of the Year

Dagens Nyheter 
The jury wrote: In a time where many media companies are facing eroding business models with cutbacks, the news desk of the year focused on development and with modern methods and powerful understanding of the times, deepened journalism in different channels. It has led to a formidable collection of reporting, interviews, analysis and investigation in Dagens Nyheter during 2015.

Marketing Department of the Year

Dagens Nyheter's marketing department
The jury wrote: The winner shows a clear focus on the digital subscription business that shows growth and progress. By simplifying and streamlining its offer while starting a fruitful and exciting cooperation with market-leading player Klarna, Dagens Nyheter shows innovation and courage that will mean a lot even for others in the industry.

Idea of the Year

Kit
The jury wrote: In a time where the future of media consumption is no longer traditional, it's important to dare to challenge established approaches and test new concepts. An innovative idea should preferably be bold, and must attempt something new. This year's winner challenges the thinking on platforms, distribution and brand with high-quality journalism in a whole new way. It's brave, new and future-oriented. All that remains is to see if the future is ready.