Bonnier News in 2025 had solidified its position as Sweden’s leading news provider and the Nordic region’s largest news media group, largely through a successful strategic and operating model transformation. Under CEO Anders Eriksson, the company transitioned from a decentralized, silo-based structure to an integrated organization, realizing great scale advantages and improved bottom-line performance. The strategy, which included maintaining print, digitizing niche businesses, and leveraging the customer and product ecosystem, led to strong financial performance. The business model shifted fundamentally from reliance on advertising to subscription-based digital revenue. Digital revenue now accounted for over half of the total revenue, and critically, 70% of the company’s contribution margin originated from digital operations. Bonnier News expected to realize over a billion SEK in operating profit, confirming record results despite weak consumer and advertising markets. The subscriber base grew dramatically to 2.6 million by 2024, making Bonnier News the clear market leader in Swedish digital subscriptions. The primary strategic challenge was the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which posed a risk to the crucial direct relationship Bonnier News maintained with its customers. While AI was utilized internally for productivity improvements across functions like software development, transcription, and customer service, Bonnier News adopted a defensive stance externally. They chose not to strike content deals with AI firms (such as OpenAI or Google) to protect their intellectual property rights and core strategy against scraping, viewing this unauthorized use as piracy. The strategy continued to evolve through aggressive execution, including expanding local news coverage to approximately 65% of the Swedish market, maintaining print profitability and expanding business media operations across 12 European markets. The company aimed to continue growing a successful, scalable, and sustainable business, committed to empowering free speech and contributing to a democratic society.
Also see: SM370: Bonnier News Group in 2023: Sustaining Profitable Digital Growth
