01.07.2025 – 13:10

dpa group reports moderate decline in turnover in 2024, parent company saw growth and stable profit - Successful investments in AI expertise

Annual report 2024

The dpa group saw a mixed financial year in 2024: At the group level, dpa reported a moderate decline in turnover, while the parent company Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH grew and generated a stable profit. Group turnover fell to 161.5 million euros (2023: 165.9 million euros). This was mainly due to the end of the extensive projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, dpa GmbH increased its turnover to 105.5 million euros (previous year: 104.3 million euros). The net profit remained at a good level of 1.4 million euros (2023: also 1.4 million euros). Germany's largest news agency announced this today at its 76th shareholders' meeting in Hamburg.

"Overall, dpa can look back on a successful year," said dpa CEO Peter Kropsch. "Despite difficult economic conditions, we achieved growth in turnover in our core business and maintained our earnings. In addition, we invested heavily in the future technology of AI, established an AI team and are already successfully marketing our first products. At the group level, the decline in the pandemic-related project business, which was mainly located in dpa's mecom subsidiary, could not be fully offset."

The subsidiaries of dpa achieved remarkable results in their respective areas. For example, news aktuell, which specialises in PR services, once again made the largest contribution to the success of the dpa group. The image subsidiary dpa Picture-Alliance succeeded in significantly increasing sales and profits in a highly competitive market. Despite extensive internal restructuring, dpa-infocom once again achieved a very good result with its data products. As in previous years, the subsidiaries thus represent a key pillar of the dpa group's positive performance.

"With the end of the traffic-light coalition, the US election campaign and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, we have coped impressively well with an extremely intense year in the news. The journalistic strength and quality of the agency have once again proven their worth," said dpa Editor-in-chief Sven Gösmann. "With the rollout of our multimedia production system Rubix and our focus on developing our video offering, we have successfully advanced our digital first strategy."

Focus on innovation and digital transformation

In 2024 dpa focused on technological innovations. In collaboration with the US-based AI company you.com, it developed its own RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) model, which enables editors to efficiently search dpa content. The specially-developed AI Research assistant works like a response engine. In this context, the central platform dpa-news was comprehensively modernised and successfully launched on the market in the first quarter of 2025.

The introduction of the Rubix production system represents another milestone. Its digital first approach optimises collaboration within the editorial team and forms the backbone of the new multimedia basic service.

International expansion and strategic partnerships

dpa has also intensified its international activities. Together with the AP news agency, it launched the Arabic-language "Global Arabic News Service," which combines European and global perspectives. The editorial team is based in a joint hub in Cairo. In addition, dpa increased its stake in the British business news agency Alliance News to 10.7 per cent (previously 3.9 per cent) in order to strengthen its presence in the area of global financial information.

The "European Newsroom" (enr) project, which promotes exchanges between European news agencies, was also expanded. A total of 23 agencies are now part of this initiative, which is supported by the European Commission.

75 years of dpa: An anniversary marked by press freedom

In 2024, dpa celebrated its 75th anniversary with a series of events. A particular highlight was the "Your News, Your Future" news camp, in which around 300 schoolchildren explored topics such as disinformation and press freedom. In addition, the academic publication "Im Dienst der Nachricht" (In the Service of the News) was launched, which traces the history of dpa since its foundation in 1949.

2024 annual report with AI as its main theme

The current annual report deals with the topic of artificial intelligence and outlines the agency's AI strategy together with specific areas of action. It also describes the use of AI in fact-checking. A photo gallery illustrates why, despite all the openness towards new technology, journalistic values remain important. The annual report documents this using the example of the irreplaceable work of dpa's photographers, who deliver authentic and factual images of events and people every day.

About dpa:

The German Press Agency (dpa) was founded in 1949 and is one of the world's leading independent news agencies. dpa supplies media groups, companies and organisations with editorial content. This includes texts, photos, videos, graphics, radio reports and other formats. As an internationally active agency, dpa reports in seven languages. Approximately 1,000 journalists work from around 140 locations in Germany and abroad. Around 170 German media companies are dpa shareholders. The central editorial office, headed by Editor-in-Chief Sven Gösmann, is located in Berlin. The executive board, headed by CEO Peter Kropsch, is based at the company's headquarters in Hamburg. The chairman of the supervisory board is Daniel Schöningh (Ippen Media Group, Munich).

At home and abroad, media with various editorial orientations place their trust in dpa's non-partisan, neutral and verified reporting. dpa works according to the principles laid down in its statutes: independent of world views, commercial enterprises or governments. dpa rejects financial contributions from government agencies, companies and private individuals. dpa only accepts project-related funding in a small number of selected cases and after careful consideration. A list of these projects can be found on our website.

Pressekontakt:

dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Jens Petersen
Leiter Konzernkommunikation
Telefon: +49 40 4113 32843
E-Mail: pressestelle@dpa.com

Original content of: dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, transmitted by news aktuell