For the first time in its history,
the Chained Duck
ended up in the red in 2019, weighed down by the claims of the distributor Presstalis whose liquidation this year weighed on the accounts of many newspapers.
Read also: Bayard in the red because of the health crisis and Presstalis
The satirical weekly posted a slight loss of just over 30,000 euros in 2019 against a profit of 1.4 million euros the previous year, according to the annual accounts to be published Wednesday in the newspaper.
Without the charges related to Presstalis, equivalent to 1.4 million euros, the weekly would have been profitable, even if its sales fell (-15,700 copies per week to 322,820).
"The biggest drop took place in the second half of the year due to the transport strike which affected the Relay network"
, specifies the palmiped which adds that the number of its subscribers has slightly decreased (-2.4% to 73,667).
The financial situation should remain difficult in 2020, again because of Presstalis which will have cost the weekly weekly more than 3.2 million euros in two years.
Without forgetting the health crisis: the first confinement lowered number sales by more than 20% in the first half of the year while the Duck
"made the choice to maintain all the salaries of its staff"
, without resorting to partial unemployment .
A new website
On the good news side, the newspaper gained 14% more subscribers in the first half of 2020 and now has more than 82,800, with a small revolution during confinement: the possibility of buying a digital version of the newspaper, a first for this institution. centenary.
And the newspaper intends to accelerate on this path with the upcoming launch of a new site
"more complete, easier to access and more user-friendly".