Media

Revenues down 4.6% at newspaper publisher Johnston

Digital advertising revenues up 17.5% in the first half

Johnston sold its Irish titles for £7.2 million (€10.1 million) in cash to Iconic Newspapers last year
Johnston sold its Irish titles for £7.2 million (€10.1 million) in cash to Iconic Newspapers last year
Tue Aug 11 2015 - 11:29

Regional newspaper group Johnston Press, which sold its 14 titles in the Republic last year, reported declining half-year sales as companies cut print advertising spending.

The group is ,the second-biggest publisher of local newspapers in the UK.

Trading conditions had “undoubtedly been challenging” in the period, chief executive Ashley Highfield said.

The Edinburgh-based publisher, whose titles include the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Evening Post, said revenue including a pension impact and other adjustments fell 4.6 per cent to £128.9 million in the 26 weeks ended July 4th.

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Operating profit including exceptional items fell 4.3 per cent to £27 million.

The company’s shares fell 20 per cent on July 14th after it issued a profit warning ahead of the half-year results, citing uncertainty over the UK general election weighing on advertising.

“In the second quarter of this year all print-facing publishers had a really tough time,” Alex De Groote, media analyst at Peel Hunt, said in a telephone interview ahead of the results. “Print advertising declined much worse than expected. Even very successful newspapers like the Daily Mail had a terrible second quarter.”

Johnston’s main competitors in print, such as Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail and General Trust , have seen their share prices decline this year.

The publisher said the pace of the slowdown in ad sales had lessened slightly in July, with the monthly decline running at 7.7 per cent year-on-year. Digital advertising revenue rose 17.5 per cent in the first half. Digital sales represent about a fifth of total ad revenue, up from 13 per cent two years ago. Its digital audience rose 20 per cent.

Johnston also cut net debt by £10.9 million to 183.3 million.

The group sold the Irish titles for £7.2 million (€10.1 million) in cash to Iconic Newspapers last year, just a fraction of the sum it spent on buying the newspapers during the boom. In 2005, Johnston spent €139 million on the Leinster Leader group of titles alone, while its total outlay in Ireland totalled more than €200 million.

Other titles acquired as part of the Iconic Newspapers takeover included the Longford Leader, the Leitrim Observer, the Donegal Democrat, the Kilkenny People and the Limerick Leader.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg