Trinity Mirror reports 2.5% rise in operating profit but fall in pre-tax profits of 75% for 2012
Trinity Mirror has claimed a 2.5 per cent rise in its operating profit for 2012 of £107.1 million, despite seeing its revenue fall by £54.2 million and its pre-tax profits decline by three quarters.
The publishing company, which made cost savings on £107.1 million last year, revealed revenue to £706.5 million, which it partly blames the launch of The Sun on Sunday by News International for.
Pre-tax profits within the company that prints The Mirror, The People and The Daily Record, fell by around three quarters to £18.9 million in 2012 while structural cost savings, which included the establishment of unified company One Trinity Mirror, were £25 million in total for last year.
Simon Fox, chief executive of Trinity Mirror said that in his first six months at the company, Trinity Mirror was “a strong and cash generative business” and said that there was still “further unrealised potential” within the business.
He also revealed that the company would invest £8 million to deliver ‘strategic objectives’ including the ‘acceleration of it digital capacities’ while also aiming to repay its long-term debt over the next 15 months.
“Over this period our financial flexibility will improve such that we can both meet our pension funding obligations and consider the potential for returning capital to shareholders.
Although the trading environment is expected to remain difficult, the strategic initiatives I have implemented will bring significant benefits with the ambition of delivering sustainable profit growth over the medium term,” he added.
Fox also revealed that £3 million will be spent this year by Trinity Mirror in continuing to strengthen its digital services, with newsrooms focusing on a more digital reporting strategy.