Annual Report 2022

What sets FACTSTORY’s services apart from

our competitors?

Firstly, the fact we are a 100-percent subsidiary of AFP plays

a huge part in the way we market ourselves and our com-

mercial success. This has always been the case. Not only

does it open doors, but also gives us an unparalleled ad-

vantage in terms of production, innovation and reactivity in

a sector where the competition is fierce.

We market ourselves as an audiovisual production com-

pany, like CAPA, INS or Media Group. But the difference is

that we can draw upon an international production network.

The AFP network combined with the FACTSTORY network is

what really sets us apart. Our ability to react quickly is our

main selling point. We can very quickly be anywhere in the

world to respond to clients’ needs.

We have also built up unique expertise in covering institu-

tions, especially the European Union, the European Parlia-

ment and UN agencies. Audiovisual production for institu-

tions is at the heart of what FACTSTORY does and makes up

50 percent of our turnover.

2021 was FACTSTORYs best year

commercially How is it looking in 2022

2022 is even better than last year We are still seeing sales

growth 20 percent above our provisional forecasts for 2022

and 33 percent above 2021

That is for two reasons Meta and the strength of the insti

tutional market

But what we did for Facebook during 2022 curating articles

from the French press for Facebook News is now finished

It only lasted a year Our growth rate is therefore likely to be

slightly slower in 2023 but this should be offset by growth

from the institutional and corporate sectors

Did we hit our targets in 2022

We have continued to shore up our turnover which hit 115

million euros

We have continued to work on bolstering what we can offer

to institutions and this will carry on in 2023.

Our profit margin is 17 percent, which is excellent.

What are the current areas of development?

Have they changed compared to last year?

Our areas of development are always focused on sport. We

have the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in

2024. We work regularly with the IOC and FIFA.

We have started producing documentaries. We already pro-

duced one on Boko Haram in Nigeria in 2021. We are wor-

king on another about the Vasa, a Swedish warship that

sank in 1628. We are in the middle of making a documen-

tary on Eddy Merckx, which will be broadcast in 2024. We

aim to produce around four or five of these from 2024 on

serious and attractive topics. There is a veritable gold mine

of possible news topics at AFP: the potential is huge and it’s

a growing sector.

We are also working on developing podcasts, for our clients

at first but then eventually, if it works out commercially, on

native podcasts because this is an area similar to documen-

taries. It’s a format that interests our clients, a different way

of telling stories, even if video and photo remain the domi-

nant formats.

Can we have a few figures and examples?

We again won a four-year photo contract from the

European Commission. This represents more than one

million euros per year approximately.

We also signed a deal with Proximus, Belgium’s biggest pri-

vate telecoms operator, for which we are producing several

TV shows.

Latin America is a major area for development. Our team

there, five people in total with stringers, has managed to off-

set the loss of the Coca-Cola contract. They made 700,000

euros in additional sales in 2022 and we are aiming to hit

one million in 2023.

We are expanding Africa along the lines of our experience

in Latin America. We already have some small contracts on

this continent, notably with the EU and the UN. Africa is our

new target for geographical expansion.

FACTSTORY

INTERVIEW

"2022 is even better than last year. We are still seeing sales growth

20 percent above our provisional forecasts for 2022."

OTMAN MERICHE

FACTSTORY MANAGING DIRECTOR

Overview of a recent motion design production for

UNFPA (United Nations sexual and reproductive

A photography taken for the European Commission.

On the set of the documentary about the legendary

Vasa which sank on its maiden voyage in the 17th