16Annual Report Contents 4 Foreword 82 Report of the Supervisory Board 6 Executive Board 89 Consolidated Financial Statements 90 Responsibility Statement 8 The Axel Springer share 91 Auditor’s Report 10 Combined Management Report 92 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 12 Fundamentals of the Axel Springer Group 94 Consolidated Statement of 22 Economic Report Comprehensive Income 39 Economic Position of Axel Springer SE 95 Consolidated Statement of 42 Report on risks and opportunities Cash Flows 57 Forecast Report 96 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 62 Disclosures and explanatory report on the Executive Board pursuant to takeover law 97 Consolidated Segment Report 67 Corporate Governance Report 98 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 173 Boards 2 Group Key Figures in € millions Change 2016 2015 Group Revenues – 0.1 % 3,290.2 3,294.9 Digital media revenue share1) 67.4 % 61.7 % EBITDA2) 6.5 % 595.5 559.0 EBITDA margin2) 18.1 % 17.0 % Digital media EBITDA share1) 72.5 % 69.6 % EBIT2) 4.9 % 471.1 449.0 Net income3) 47.7 % 450.0 304.6 Net income, adjusted2) 3) 7.4 % 299.9 279.3 Segments Revenues Classified Ad Models 16.8 % 879.5 753.1 Paid Models – 6.4 % 1,481.6 1,582.2 Marketing Models – 2.6 % 856.2 878.9 Services/Holding – 9.7 % 72.9 80.7 EBITDA2) Classified Ad Models 16.3 % 354.6 305.0 Paid Models – 3.9 % 214.4 223.2 Marketing Models – 6.6 % 82.2 88.0 Services/Holding − – 55.7 – 57.1 Liquidity and financial position 2) Free cash flow (FCF) – 9.8 % 270.5 299.8 2) 4) FCF excl. effects from headquarter real estate transactions – 16.6 % 229.7 275.4 5) Capex − – 156.8 – 131.4 4) 5) Capex excl. effects from headquarter real estate transactions − – 130.4 – 116.9 6) Total assets – 0.7 % 6,456.2 6,504.7 Equity ratio2) 6) 40.9 % 38.6 % 2) 6) 7) Net liquidity/debt − – 1,035.2 – 1,066.6 Share-related key figures8) Earnings per share, adjusted (in €)2) 3) 9) 8.5 % 2.41 2.22 Earnings per share (in €)3) 9) 57.5 % 3.94 2.50 Dividend (in €)10) 5.6 % 1.90 1.80 Year-end share price (in €) – 10.1 % 46.13 51.34 11) Market capitalization – 10.1 % 4,977.2 5,539.3 Average number of employees 2.0 % 15,323 15,023 1) Based on the operating business (without the segment Services/Holding). 2) Further explanations with respect to the relevant key performance indicators on page 35. 3) Continuing operations see also notes to the consolidated financial statements under note (2d). 4) Referring to the new headquarter building in Berlin as well as to the sale of the office building complex in Hamburg. 5) Cash flow from operating activities minus capital expenditures, plus cash inflows from disposals of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment. 6) As of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. 7) In 2015, without the purchase price received in connection with real estate sales amounting to € 67.5 million, attributable to the plan assets created for our pension obligations. 8) Quotations based on XETRA closing prices. 9) Calculation based on average weighted shares outstanding in the reporting period (107.9 million; PY: 99.7 million). 10) The dividend for the financial year 2016 is subject to the condition of approval by the annual shareholders’ meeting. 11) Based on shares outstanding at the closing price as of December 31, 2016, excluding treasury shares (107.9 million; PY: 107.9 million). Annual Report 2016 Foreword Foreword Axel Springer SE A successful year lies behind us. And thus also behind you. growth. This was again very strong and exceeded our We have achieved our goals and further expanded our expectations. We are excellently positioned to benefit business. The prerequisite for this was the outstanding from the structural change from print to online and an commitment of our more than 15,000 employees world- expansion of the value chain. wide. They make Axel Springer what it is. Within the classified portals, the job portals have shown With an EBITDA of € 595.5 million and an increase of the strongest organic growth - from a previously already 6.5 %, we have achieved the upper end of our forecast. outstanding level. In the German real estate market, the The same applies to the adjusted earnings per share Immowelt Group has developed very well after the merger with an increase of 8.5 % to € 2.41. We propose an of Immowelt and Immonet. Finally, we expanded the busi- increase in dividends from € 1.80 to € 1.90. ness of vacation rental portals as a further important pillar with strong brands such as Traum-Ferienwohnungen, We have consistently pursued our digitization strategy. DanCenter and Danland. Our digital business generated 67.4 % of total revenues and 72.5 % of EBITDA. We generated 84.8 % of the Our journalistic products have also developed positively. advertising revenues with the marketing of digital products. Organically, the focus was on expanding our strong media brands. These have achieved high reach, especially More specifically: The Classified Ad Models have once through the dissemination of content via digital platforms. again made the largest contribution to earnings in all Our video views have risen to an average of around 2.7 segments in 2016. Axel Springer holds the world's top- billion per month. selling portfolio in this division. It consists mainly of market leaders, which contributed 82 % of the revenues in this segment. In particular, we concentrated on organic 4 Annual Report 2016 Foreword Axel Springer SE With the internationalization in what is now 15 countries, The past year was eventful not only for us as a media the growth of Business Insider has continued to advance. company but also for our society. The British have voted In 2016, we reached for the first time more than 100 for leaving the European Union, the Americans elected million people worldwide in one month. Revenues in- an extremely controversial candidate to their presidency. creased by 29 %. In addition, we have expanded our US A discussion about fake news and the influence of digital portfolio by acquiring eMarketer, a provider of high-quality media on voters has flared up. Wars, crises and expul- analyzes, studies and online market data, which is highly sions in other parts of the world have led to a mass profitable through subscription revenues. In partnership exodus to Europe. A terrorist attack in Berlin just before with Discovery Communications, Axel Springer has also Christmas marked an alarming close to the year. added the shares in NowThis and Thrillist to the new company Group Nine Media in the USA. Group Nine These events show: Strong, reliable media brands and Media, headquartered in New York, including the digital quality journalism with responsible publishers are indis- network Seeker and the online media The Dodo, was pensable. Both for our business and for our free and already one of the largest digital media companies with a democratic society. Attitude, information and reliability total of 3.5 billion monthly video views and more than 500 count. This is what we stand for. full-time employees. We remain focused and passionate. Particularly at this The subscriber numbers of our BILD and WELT Paid moment. And we are confident that we will further ex- Models continue to grow strongly. At the end of the year pand and strengthen our business in the new financial we had 421,000 digital subscriptions. year. We can do this best with your trust and support. upday, our start-up for aggregated and journalist-curated Thanks for being part of it. news content, developed together with Samsung in 2015, has developed very positively. The offering, which has been established in several European countries, has already reached the top ten of the online news brands in Germany at the end of 2016, with 89 million visits and just about a billion page impressions. Sincerely yours, Mathias Döpfner 5 Executive Board Dr. Mathias Döpfner Jan Bayer Chairman President Paid Models Born 1963, journalist. Born 1970, Master’s degree in Career milestones: media studies. Career mile stones: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung; Publisher Gruner+Jahr; Chief Editor Wochen- Volksstimme, Magdeburg; Publisher post, Hamburger Morgenpost, Süddeutsche Zeitung; Chairman of and DIE WELT. Member of the the Executive Board of the WELT Executive Board since 2000, Group. Member of the Executive Chairman since 2002. Board since 2012. 6 Executive Board Dr. Julian Deutz Dr. Andreas Wiele Chief Financial Officer President Marketing and Classified Ad Models Born 1968, Master’s degree in business administration. Career Born 1962, lawyer. milestones: OC&C Strategy Career milestones: Editor, Consultants; head of M&A/Investor Hamburger Morgenpost; Head Relations Pixelpark AG; CFO of Publishing Capital and Geo, Venturepark AG; CFO Steilmann- Gruner+Jahr, Paris/France; Gruppe; Axel Springer International; Execu tive Vice President and Chief Head of Group Controlling/Corporate Operating Officer of Gruner+Jahr Development Axel Springer SE. USA Publishing, New York. Member of the Executive Board Member of the Executive Board since 2014. since 2000. 7 Annual Report 2016 The Axel Springer share The Axel Springer share Axel Springer SE Difficult year on the Stock Exchange Investor Relations in 2016 The company’s Management and Investor Relations The stock market has seen a turbulent year. While the team presented the company and its strategy at investor overall market at the end of the year slightly improved on conferences and road shows in Europe and the United average, the media sector suffered losses overall.