“Latvijas Radio Reports 12.9% Turnover Increase And 77.1% Loss Increase In 2022, Blames Rising Costs And Wage Reform”

Last year VSIA “Latvijas Radio” worked with a turnover of 12.783 million euros, which is 12.9% more than the year before, while the company’s losses increased by 77.1% – up to 293,873 euros, according to the information published by “Firmas.lv”.

The management report of the company’s financial report indicates that in 2022, as part of the priority measures allocated to Latvian Radio, work on content evaluation continued, evaluating a total of around 30 content units, using internal resources – content evaluation commissions formed by thematic editorial boards, as well as attracting external experts.

Although Latvijas Radio has completed the works envisaged in the strategy and work plan in 2022, the management emphasizes that the year 2022 has brought significant corrections and additional workload for both content creators and providers of technical and support functions. Among them, the coverage and technical provision of the hostilities in Ukraine and the wide range of issues related to it has definitely been the most difficult and complex work from all aspects.

The report mentions that the amount of the company’s losses is related to the increase in electricity and heat energy prices. Also, the amount of losses was affected by the wage reform that began in 2020 – wages were increased for some structural units, new staff positions were created, wage reform was initiated in the News Service.

According to the management, in 2022, similar to global trends in the radio segment, the Latvian Radio group of channels will see a 3% decrease in audience last year, namely from 775,150 in 2021 to 751,290 thousand in 2022.

In 2022, the Latvian Radio channel group reached 49.2% of Latvia’s population aged 16-74.

In 2023, the management of Latvijas Radio intends to continue to implement the ambitious content, investment and development plans, as well as to work on quality content, with a special emphasis on analytical and investigative journalism.

In 2023, it is planned to invest the resources intended for capital investments, concluding the work on the restoration and replacement of Radio House windows, as well as introducing new, innovative solutions to ensure technological development.

In 2021, Latvijas Radio worked with a turnover of 11.322 million euros and a loss of 165,937 euros.

Latvijas Radio was registered in 1992, and its share capital is 1,854,685 euros.