Profits fall at Johnston Press as it continues to see newspaper and advertising revenues decline
Johnston Press has reported an operating profit of £30.4m for the first half of 2012, having reduced costs by £12.8m (8.1 percent) this year, as it continues to see a decline in newspaper sales and advertising revenue.
Reporting its first half financial figures, the newspaper publisher, which is currently consolidating its printing activities and redeveloping its digital offering, has relaunched 23 titles during the first six months of the year, with the remainder of around 250 to be rolled out by the end of 2012.
The full year target for cost savings is £25m, having seen its operating profits decline from last year's figure by 8.7 percent to £33.3m.
In total, the group’s revenue for the first half was £176.1m in comparison to £191.8m reported during the same period last year.
The publisher also reported a growth of digital local display and property revenue of 43.8 percent and 25.2 percent respectively, while it claims the increase to its audiences, especially coming to the company’s titles through mobile platforms, has grown in terms of money visitors by 100 percent, leading to an overall growth in digital revenue to £103m.
Advertising revenue in total was down during the first six weeks of the year by 14.7 percent, although receipt of £30m from News International to end its printing contract placed the Group's net debt at £332.1m by the end of July.
Overall revenue declined with print advertising down by 12.5 percent to £97.4m, newspaper sales down by 3.1 percent to £46.7m, digital revenue increasing by 8.4 percent to £10.3m and contract printing also down by 10 percent to £12.6m.
Ashley Highfield, CEO of Johnston Press, 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."