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Yle's year 2021

About Yle

Yle's year 2021

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Financial figures 2021

Yle’s financial standing remained well balanced, even though the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a significant impact on the company’s operation. Moreover, the circumstances required special arrangements in productions and other activities.

Yleisradio Oy’s funding consists of revenue based on the Yle tax. The tax revenue is used to finance Yle’s television, radio, and online contents. In 2021, Yle used 80 percent of all the funds to produce contents and services for the Finns.

The result for the financial period in 2021 was EUR -5.7 million (7.2).

Yle's performance can vary annually, but according to the guidelines of Yle’s Administrative Council, any annual performance fluctuations must compensate for each other in such a way that the company’s financials remain in balance over the long term.

Yle’s net turnover was EUR 499.9 million (487.6)

― An increase of 2.5 per cent from the previous year

Yle’s total costs stood at EUR 508.3 million (483.1)

― An increase of 5.2 per cent from the previous year

Yle is a significant engine and financer in the creative sector. Other operating expenses included EUR 22.6 million paid in compensation for collecting societies that represent musicians, record producers, and performing artists. In 2021, Yle paid a total of EUR 14.8 million (14.5) in broadcasting right fees, rebroadcasting fees, and other fees related to programme rights.

Yle's cost structure in 2021, tot. 508.2 million euros

  1. 78% Content and services €405 million
  2. 11% Technology and infrastructure €54.3 million
  3. 6% Joint operations and administration €24.5 million
  4. 5% Depreciation €20.7 million
  5. 0% Sales €3.7 million

Content and services in 2021, tot. 405.0 million euros

  1. 32% National and Regional News and Current Affairs €131.2 million
  2. 20% Culture and Entertainment €81.4 million
  3. 15% Factual €60.0 million
  4. 13% Drama €51.1 million
  5. 12% Sport €48.0 million
  6. 8% Children and Youth €33.3 million

Explore Yle's economy! This is how our budget was distributed in 2021

      • Wages EUR 183.0 million

        At the end of the year, Yle had 2942 permanent employees with a monthly salary.

        The number of permanent employment relationships is divided equally between women and men.

        Personnel expenses accounted for 46.4 percent of all costs

      • Fees EUR 11.4 million

        In addition to our own personnel, Yle employs talented people from dozens of different fields – ranging from programme producers to musicians, composers, scriptwriters, actors and actresses and production technology professionals.

        The average number of person-years in all employment relationships was 3361

      • Pension expenses EUR 34.4 million

        Pension benefits for permanent employees with a monthly salary are managed by the Yleisradio Pension Fund.

      • Other social security expenses EUR 6.8 million

        Social security contributions, unemployment insurance contributions, etc.

      • Domestic EUR 36.6 million

        Yle mainly acquires drama, entertainment, documentaries and factual content from Finnish production companies

      • Foreign and sports EUR 26.4 million

        Almost half of foreign acquisition programmes came from independent production companies and a quarter from other public broadcasters

        Major sports events, such as the UEFA European Championships and the Tokyo Olympic Games, reached millions of Finns on Yle's TV channels

        Yle also highlights sports with a smaller number of enthusiasts in its sports broadcasting and promotes their visibility. More than 100 sports are represented

      • ICT and production technology EUR 12.5 million

        Software licences, ICT and production technology

      • Buildings and structures EUR 5.4 million

        The buildings mainly consist of the premises in Pasila

      • Music broadcasting fees EUR 22.6 million

        Music broadcasting and copyright fees

        Compensations for collecting societies that represent musicians, record producers and performing artists

      • Other broadcasting fees EUR 14.8 million

        Other broadcasting and copyright fees

        Broadcasting right fees, rebroadcasting fees and other legal fees related to the programmes

      • Broadcasting production services EUR 18.2 million

        Cinematography, editing, graphics, organisation, scenography, etc.

      • Other broadcasting services EUR 6.0 million

        E.g. translation and dubbing services as well as fees to interviewees, experts and contributors

      • Broadcasting supplies EUR 2.7 million

        E.g. props, sets, wardrobe

      • Radio distribution

        6 radio channels and regional programmes in 18 different regions

        Hours of national programming on different channels total 44,252 hours and hours of regional programming 26,650 hours

        Our radio programmes are 99 percent Finnish

      • TV distribution

        3 channel slots: Yle TV1, Yle TV2, Yle Teema & Fem

        Hours of TV programming totalled 18,874 hours, of which 6,949 were first broadcasts.

        The share of domestic content of TV broadcasts was 54% and the share of European content 87%.

      • Broadband distribution

        Streaming of all radio and television channels via Yle Areena

        Total number of videos published in Yle Areena in 2021: 43,360 (15,352 hours) and audio: 109,189 (46,232 hours)

        Video or audio recordings or live radio and TV broadcasts on Yle Areena were accessed in total 1.2 billion times, an average of over 3 million times every day.

      • Technology service purchases EUR 10.4 million

        The transfer of media production to a technology architecture based on IP, software and cloud-based solutions has accelerated. This trend is also reflected in Yle’s technological reform

      • Software and maintenance EUR 12.5 million

        Software licenses, maintenance and support fees, cloud charges

      • Technology consulting EUR 22.5 million

        Technology expert work and technology consulting

      • Telecommunications costs EUR 3.7 million

        Mobile and other telecommunications charges

      • Land and facility rents EUR 9.0 million

        Regional deliveries in 25 different localities in Finland

        Land rents mainly in Pasila

      • Other rents EUR 3.0 million

        Rents for car leasing, programme production sites, programme supplies, etc.

      • HVAC expenses EUR 3.5 million

        Heating, electricity, cooling, water

      • Other real estate expenses EUR 6.3 million

        Cleaning and sanitation, waste management, security and safety, property management services, property repair and maintenance, property tax, etc.

      • Travel expenses EUR 4.5 million

        Domestic and foreign travel expenses

      • Entertainment and meeting expenses EUR 0.9 million

        Catering, etc.

      • Voluntary personnel costs EUR 6.0 million

        Occupational health care, personnel meals, training, etc.

      • Office expenses and purchases of small equipment EUR 3.0 million

        Phones, monitors, etc.

      • Experts, consulting, studies EUR 4.2 million

        Customer surveys, financial audit, legal services, recruitment services, etc.

      • Other external services EUR 3.1 million

        Installation and maintenance of equipment, transport, moving services, etc.

      • Other miscellaneous expenses EUR 4.3 million

        Insurances, marketing expenses, bank expenses, etc.

  • Depreciation, amortisation, and reduction in value totalled EUR 83.8 million (76.0) - increase of 10.2 percent from the previous year.

  • Amortisation from broadcasting rights totalled EUR 63.0 million (52.6) - increase of 19.8 percent from the previous year.

  • Other depreciations totalled EUR 20.8 million (23.5) - marks a decrease of 11.3 percent from the previous year.

Key figures

2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
SCOPE OF OPERATIONS (EUR million / %)
Net turnover 499,9 487,6 478,0 471,6 472,3
Change % 2,5 2,0 1,3 -0,1 0,3
Other operating income 2,6 2,6 2,7 2,7 2,7
Change % -0,3 -1,2 -1,6 -0,4 18,2
Cost and amortisation * 508,2 481,4 474,5 481,8 467,9
Change % 5,6 1,5 -1,5 3,0 -1,7
Balance sheet total 372,0 368,7 308,7 315,4 296,4
Gross capital investments, tangible and intangible assets ** 17,4 14,9 20,7 17,7 19,8
% of net turnover 3,5 3,1 4,3 3,7 4,2
PROFITABILITY (EUR million / %)
EBITDA 78,2 84,9 78,5 69,3 83,4
% of net turnover 15,6 17,4 16,4 14,7 17,7
Operating profit (loss) -5,6 8,8 6,1 -7,5 7,0
% of net turnover -1,1 1,8 1,3 -1,6 1,5
Profit (loss) for the financial year -5,7 7,2 6,0 -5,5 6,9
% of net turnover -1,1 1,5 1,3 -1,2 1,5
FINANCING AND FINANCIAL POSITION
Quick ratio 0,2 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5
Equity ratio % 36,8 38,7 43,8 41,0 45,5
Interest-bearing liabilities (EUR million) 57,6 47,0 61,2 48,8 41,2
Interest-bearing debts (EUR million) 33,4 18,0 29,1 12,9 6,2
PERSONNEL
Avarage number of personnel years
during the period *** 3361 3296 3304 3309 3333
Wages, salaries (EUR million) 183,0 175,2 171,4 167,8 166,6
Fees (EUR million) 11,4 11,0 11,6 13,1 12,3
Wages, salaries and fees total (EUR million) 194,5 186,2 183,0 181,0 179,0
* Financing expenses excluded ** Excluding broadcasting right acquisitions *** Includes permanent, fixed-term, hourly and performance-based employment relationships.

Personnel costs in 2021

At the end of the year, Yle had 2942 permanent salaried employees, which is 57 employees more than at the end of 2020. The average total number of person-years in all employment relationships was 3,361, which was 65 person-years more than in the previous year.

Yle’s operations have both direct and indirect impacts on the economy and employment rate of the creative sector. In addition to in-house personnel, Yle employs talented people from dozens of different fields, ranging from programme producers to musicians, composers, scriptwriters, actors and actresses, and production technology professionals.

Yle’s tax footprint

Tax footprint refers to tax revenue and tax-like charges collected by the society from the operations of a company.

There are no established reporting practices for the tax footprint, but usually it consists of direct and indirect taxes paid by the company, as well as of tax-like, personnel-related contributions paid by the employer and employees.

Read the Board of Director’s report and Yle’s financial statements here.

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