Member Article

Profits almost halve at Johnston Press

Newspaper publisher Johnston Press has seen pre-tax profits nearly halve in 2012, to just over £8m.

Johnston publish around 250 newspaper titles, and print advertising for the company fell by 12.5%, as newspaper sales declined by just over 3%.

In an interim results statement, Johnston said coverage of the Olympic Games had impacted the advertising market.

Before the inclusion of a £30m payment from News International for a partially terminated printing contract, pre-tax profits fell 1.5% year-on-year to £13.6m.

The company saw growth in digital revenues of 8.4%, albeit from a small base; and Johnston’s websites experienced a 39% increase in traffic year-on-year.

Ashley Highfield, Chief Executive Officer of Johnston Press plc said: “The first half has been a period of tremendous activity and we have made significant progress. Johnston Press is going through a strategic transformation.

“As we continue to develop our digital portfolio, refresh our print offering, reduce costs, and use our substantial operating cash flow to bring down our debt, we are increasingly confident about the success of the strategy and the benefits that it will deliver.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .