Regional publisher Northcliffe Media has seen a 10pc annual drop in revenues for the three months up to 2 July, according to figures published today.
An interim management statement published this morning by parent company DMGT reports “mixed” trading over the third quarter of its financial year, which runs from 1 October.
Total revenues for Northcliffe in the quarter fell by 10pc to £59m compared with the same period last year, with circulation revenues down 8pc and advertising down 10pc.
Headcount continued to fall, with 80 further job losses in the quarter to take the overall numbers employed in ther group to 2,720.
Northcliffe is currently embarking on a radical strategy to restructure its operations under new managing director Steve Auckland.
Two daily titles, the Torquay Herald Express and Scunthorpe Telegraph, have gone or are due to go weekly, while seven weekly titles in Kent are being sold to rival publisher the KM Group.
However the switch to weekly publication in Torquay appears to be paying early dividends for the group.
Mr Auckland revealed last week that advertising revenue at the Herald Express after its first weekly edition was up 19pc from the average full week of daily figures.
Commenting on the DMGT group’s results as a whole, chief executive Martin Morgan said: “Trading in the third quarter was mixed. There was continuing strength in B2B from our international portfolio of market-leading businesses with all divisions performing in line with our expectations.
“In contrast, conditions within our consumer businesses have been tough with advertising revenue weak over the quarter.
“We still expect to achieve some growth in earnings per share for the full financial year, driven by the continued strength of our B2B operations which reflects the benefits of DMGT’s diversification strategy, despite the volatile and uncertain market conditions faced by the UK consumer businesses.”
Sign up for our free daily email bulletin
Follow HTFP on Twitter
Got a story? Email the Editor at
The regional press take all the hits again. Surely there must be some deadwood at the Daily Mail? Maybe they should think about THAT rather than severing the arteries of their regional division
Report this comment
Too few journalists, a lack of time-served subs, closure of sub offices, no on-site printing, overnight editions and too many yes men = poor product. Poor product = drop in readership. Drop in readership = drop in advertising = drop in ad revenues etc etc. It’s blatantly obvious and unfortunately the people who suffer are the Joe Blows on the frontline. But it don’t matter to the Men In Black at the top – heaven forbid that it’s their fault that things are in this state. Pitiful really.
Report this comment
And .. I don’t usually like Steve Dyson – tend to find him in denial at times – but his review of Shropshire Star highlights the way it can be done. Smaller, independent groups seem to be the way forward, not groups that centralise printing and therefore deny any of their newspapers the ability to print on the day and implement a one-size-fits-all approach to publishing.
Report this comment