Dow Jones CEO Latour on financial results

Almar Latour

Dow Jones & Co. CEO Almar Latour sent out the following to the staff on Friday:

Colleagues,
I’m pleased to share that Dow Jones delivered record profits and record revenue in FY23, underscoring continued strength in our core business of consumer and corporate subscriptions.
FY23 revenue was the highest on record since Dow Jones was broken out as a segment, and profitability was the highest since our acquisition in 2007 — a direct result of your excellent work, your commitment to our mission, and the hard work that goes into preparing Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal for the future.
Below are some more detailed highlights from FY23:
Reported Dow Jones Segment EBITDA was the highest on record, up 14% from the prior year to reach $494 million.
Total revenue in FY23 was $2.153 billion, up 7% from the prior year and also our second-consecutive year eclipsing $2 billion in revenue.
News subscriptions growth continues, as total Dow Jones consumer subscriptions rose 7% in Q4 versus the prior year due to WSJ and Barron’s Group digital. WSJ digital-only subscriptions rose 10%, and total Dow Jones digital-only subscriptions grew 12%.
Our B2B business continues to thrive, growing 31% driven by the acquisitions of OPIS and CMA, as well as the growth of Risk & Compliance.
Our Risk & Compliance business continues to grow as full-year revenue was up 11% from the prior year despite negative currency impact from international business exposure and the absence of an additional week included in the prior fiscal year.
Advertising revenue was down 8% compared to the prior year driven primarily by ongoing macroeconomic conditions.
All in all, last year’s performance puts us in a good position to make FY24 an even stronger year. Subscriptions – both consumer and corporate – will continue to be our top priority as we aim to bring trusted business news and intelligence to our customers.
The year to come will bring its own set of challenges, not least of which will be our continued fight to free our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who remains in prison. I know Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal will rise to the occasion.
We look forward to discussing more at our next All-Hands meeting on Thursday, August 17 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Thank you, as ever, for your hard work and dedication to Dow Jones.
Almar

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.