Taloussanomat to Concentrate on Electronic Services Juha-Pekka Raeste appointed Editor-in-Chief and President of Taloussanomat
Financial information publisher Taloussanomat, part of the SanomaWSOY Group, plans to concentrate all its resources on its electronic business. The objective is to build a business that will be Finland's leading provider of electronic financial services. Juha-Pekka Raeste, 45, has been appointed Editor-in-Chief and President of Taloussanomat starting from 12 November.
The publication of the printed Taloussanomat and ITviikko will continue until the end of the year.
"Taloussanomat has great opportunities in the Internet. We will transfer our resources to the place where the future of financial publishing lies. This is an important strategic decision," says Mikael Pentikäinen, President of Sanoma.
Pentikäinen says that a clear change is taking place in the market for financial information. Information is increasingly sought from electronic services. Both readers and advertisers have clearly shifted more to the Internet.
At the present time, it does not appear that the reorganisation will lead to staff lay-offs because most of the current personnel of Taloussanomat will be needed in electronic operations and some can be employed in other Sanoma units. If suitable positions do not exist in Taloussanomat's electronic organisation or in other Sanoma units, other solutions will be sought.
"We will create Finland's leading business for providing financial services on the Internet. We need a strong team to accomplish that. We want to handle the change in a way that fits the traditions of Sanoma's personnel policy," Pentikäinen says, justifying the policy.
Raeste looks forward to the challenge of being Editor-in-Chief and President of Taloussanomat.
"We stand on the threshold of a new era in the market for financial services. The Internet offers immense opportunities for developing current and new services and brands. I'm delighted to be able to participate in building this new world with the expert staff of Taloussanomat, and with strong help from SanomaWSOY," Raeste says.
At the present time, Raeste works as a financial journalist at Helsingin Sanomat. In the past, he has worked, for example, as the head of Helsingin Sanomat's Nyt supplement and Account and Content Director at SanomaWSOY's 2ndhead mobile portal.
"Raeste is a respected financial journalist and someone who builds new things and develops concepts. He also has the ability to inspire others. He has broad experience and understanding of electronic media," Pentikäinen says, explaining the choice.
In peak periods, Taloussanomat's Internet services (taloussanomat.fi, digitoday.fi and itviikko.fi) have had well over 300,000 individual weekly visitors. Taloussanomat's electronic services also include the news agency Startel.
SanomaWSOY's strategic objective is to increase its focus on digital media. Taloussanomat's concentration on its electronic business supports this strategic choice.
For additional information, please contact:
Mikael Pentikäinen, tel. +358 (0) 9-122 2000
Juha-Pekka Raeste, tel. +358 (0) 9-122 2702