The Independent halves annual losses to £4.6m
The Independent’s latest financial report has shown that the newspaper has managed to half last financial year's trading loss of £9.1m down to £4.6m.
The newspaper has attributed the slow down to the increased revenues in its digital operation, sales in its sister paper- i- and cost savings in production.
The first three quarters of the current financial year placed the publisher on track to continue to reduce losses significantly. The success has been helped by a rise in revenue as a result of two successful price hikes for the i newspaper and ad campaigns which the company says put its circulation above The Guardian’s.
The launch of the i100 website to accompany the i newspaper and increased traffic to the Independent website resulted in a record UK and global audience which triggered a rise in digital revenues.
Russian owner, Evgeny Lebedev, remained cautiously optimistic while stating that “this is one of the biggest turnarounds in modern media, owed to smart innovation, strong leadership and a phenomenal work ethic".
Steve Auckland, chief executive of the parent company, ESI Media, was also optimistic in his review of the financial figures. He attributed the success to cutting “costs without damaging our core brands and products, we’ve added new revenue streams, and restructured our commercial team which I think will ultimately boost performance.”
Amol Rajan, editor of The Independent, summed up the past two years as a “resounding success" in which time the Newspaper has reduced a loss of £22.6m in 2010/11 to just £4.6m. He also thanked digital editor, Christian Broughton, who he said was responsible for the digital platforms surging and making The Independent “a true global force.”