STT plans restructuring: current operations may come to an end

STT’s news and picture agency business has been unprofitable for a long time. The organisation and product offering were most recently restructured at the turn of 2025–2026, when Sanoma’s news media discontinued their use of STT’s services.

“However, in practice, we did not achieve the targeted adjustments, and costs continue to exceed revenues. We would inevitably be facing another round of changes, and we do not believe we could provide customers with an adequate level of service with an operation smaller than the current one. Maintaining STT’s news and picture agency business with its current customer base is not realistic,” says STT CEO Kimmo Laaksonen.

Another reason for the restructuring plan is that no parties among STT’s owners or customers have been willing to take on the development of STT’s business to put it on a sustainable footing.

STT has traditionally been owned by its customers. Sanoma Media Finland became STT’s majority owner in 2018 when Alma Media and TS-Yhtymä divested their holdings. Over the past year, Sanoma has actively sought a solution in which ownership of STT and responsibility for its development would be shared more broadly among the users of the news agency service. Sanoma has been prepared to relinquish its stake for a nominal price.

“Turning around STT’s news agency business would require long-term development work and owners committed to that work. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find such commitment. STT’s Board of Directors and principal shareholders are unanimous on the need for restructuring,” says Petteri Putkiranta, Chair of STT’s Board of Directors.

STT’s other, smaller business, STT Communication Services (STT Viestintäpalvelut), which distributes corporate press releases and directly employs fewer than ten people, is profitable and has covered losses generated by the news and picture agency business. The restructuring plan does not apply to Press Release Services and will have no impact on its customer relationships.

“However, it is not sustainable to rely on growth in press release service to support the news and picture agency business, particularly as the market for STT Communication Services is also competitive and changing rapidly,” says Putkiranta.

The Finnish state was prepared to support the development of STT with a one-off grant of approximately EUR 1 million. The estimated need for support was greater, but even the full amount would not in itself have been sufficient to finance the transformation required in the coming years. The state aid process is still ongoing, and no funding has been received.

STT is now initiating restructuring negotiations covering the entire personnel, with the exception of STT Communication Services personnel. At most, the restructuring could result in the termination of 95 positions. Under the plan, the business in its current form could be discontinued in March. The negotiations cover 95 employees, 68 of whom work in the text or photo editorial teams, while the others work in STT’s other services, development functions, business operations or IT.

If the news and picture agency service is discontinued, its customers will need to reorganise the production of their basic news feed and picture services. STT provides daily news and picture agency services to dozens of customers in Finland and, through its international network of news agencies, also abroad.

“The transformation of the media industry has been rapid, and STT’s customers must now adapt. Some news media have already been producing the corresponding news themselves and no longer use STT’s services. STT’s situation highlights the more challenging operating environment for the media industry in Finland compared with the other Nordic countries. The state, for example, has largely ceased to be a customer of STT’s services, and Finland does not provide media subsidies,” says Pekka Mervola, Vice Chair of STT’s Board of Directors.

“STT has long been an important part of the Finnish media landscape. Its employees have done excellent work under challenging and constantly changing conditions for years, and the situation is particularly unfortunate for them. We will support STT’s employees and management as well as possible in dealing with the situation,” Putkiranta continues.