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Revenues down 27pc at Northcliffe Media

Regional publisher Northcliffe Media saw a 27pc drop in revenues in the three months up to the end of June, according to figures published by parent company DMGT today.

But the company said the fall in advertising revenues appeared to be stabilising, with these down 33pc in the second quarter compared with a year-on-year decline of 36pc in the previous quarter.

The month of June and the first three weeks of July have seen revenues respectively 30pc and 28pc lower than the corresponding weeks last year.

Costs are also down 19pc, with the closure of printing presses in Bristol and Leicester delivering significant savings.

“As we indicated in May, absolute weekly levels of advertising revenue appear to have stabilised,” the company said in an interim management statement published this morning.

The biggest falls in ad revenue came in the recruitment category, down 56pc, with property down 46pc, motors 28pc and retail 16pc. Circulation revenues were down 8pc.

Digital revenues for the quarter were 6pc down year-on-year, but unique visitor levels to Northcliffe’s network of ‘thisis’ websites in June were 37pc up on June 2008.

DMGT chief executive Martin Morgan said: “Since we last reported in May, trading conditions have remained weak in line with the Board’s expectations.

“The decisive action taken to defend profitability earlier in the year, along with the continued management of our cost base, is helping to offset the impact of these conditions.”