AFP renews financing contract with French state, gets 17 million euro boost

Agence France-Presse (AFP) signed a new five-year contract with the French government on Friday which provides for a 17-million-euro ($18.8-million) injection shared between 2019 and 2020, the global news agency's management said.

AFP is supported financially by the French state, but its editorial independence is guaranteed by an act of parliament. It also has private clients in the media and other industries.

The agreement, covering the period 2019-2023, will see a state contribution of 124 million euros for 2019, 119 million for 2020 and 113 million for each of the following three years, AFP chairman and CEO Fabrice Fries said.

AFP aims to increase revenue from selling photo and video products by 23 million euros over the five years, and to boost by five million euros the income generated by its fact-checking service.

AFP works with Facebook's fact-checking programme in more than 30 countries and 10 languages.

The Paris-based agency will seek to bringing down staff costs though a voluntary departure plan that aims to cut 95 posts by the end of 2023 for a saving of 14 million euros.

By the end of 2019, 67 full-time staff will have left the agency under the plan, which includes not replacing people who leave on retirement.

AFP hopes to save another 2.5 million euros in rent each year by bringing together all Paris staff, currently spread over two buildings, in the company's headquarters in the city centre.

The agency's 2020 budget, approved by the board this week, forecasts revenue growth of 2.7 percent to 172.5 million euros.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019