Regional publisher Johnston Press is on track for a strong performance in 2013 despite an 11.4pc drop in revenues, its chief executive said today.
An interim management statment published today revealed that total revenues for the first 18 weeks of the year were down 11.4pc with advertising revenues down 15.1pc.
However circulation revenues fell by only 0.8pc and the group says the rate of overall revenue decline is slowing.
The group is also claiming its first increase in operating profit for the period in seven years, although no figure has been put on this.
Today’s figures also showed the company on track to reduce costs by £20m in the coming year following the large-scale restructuring seen in 2012.
Chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “For the first time in almost seven years we are in a position to report a year-on-year increase in operating profit for the period.
“While the economic environment continued to be challenging, the implementation of our strategy progressed further with the successful completion of the relaunch of the vast majority of our titles, together with the further development of our digital business and the rollout of new hardware and software to all sales staff and journalists.
“With our reduced cost base and our continued focus on debt reduction, we remain on track to deliver a strong performance in 2013.”
Today’s statement said the relaunch of all the group’s 183 paid-for titles was now almost complete with the schedule due to be completed next month.
It said the group’s circulation revenue declined by just 0.8pc year-on-year on a like-for-like basis during the period.
The statement said: “This was an improvement on the 2012 performance, and taking into account the impact of the poor weather at the beginning of the year and the benefit of the relaunches going forward, we continue to expect year-on-year circulation revenuegrowth over the full year.
“For the titles relaunched in 2013, the average post-relaunch revenue uplift has been around 6pc year-on-year.”
Digital audience growth has also continued, with monthly website visitors for April showing a 16.4pc year-on-year increase to 11.6m.
The group is currently mid-way through a programme to roll out new versions of all its local websites by this summer.
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How can any media company suffering a 15% fall in advertising revenues be optimistic about the future? You cannot keep on restructuring i.e. get rid of fantastic editors like Jon Stokoe, year-on-year to save money and expect circulation + advertising revenues to recover. Still ‘re-arranging the deckchairs on The Titanic IMHO.
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Of course operating profit has increased: headcount has been slashed, empty offices are locked and unheated, broken office chairs remain unfixed, heating systems don’t work, and even the biros are no longer JP branded.
JP has long been trading on the good will of its staff and, more so, of its life-long customers. But how long will those customers stay loyal when they’re forced to pay ever increasing cover charges for a product that’s declining in quality because staff are simply too overstretched to produce their best work? When they have to stump up huge amounts for advertising that they can’t afford?
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Advertising revenues will continue to fall unless said advertising has proven results for the client. This requires advertising professionals (sales reps and designers), but with JP’s “focus on debt reduction” they have lost the best of them.
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“We believe that well designed advertising gets results and therefore, a key part of your role is to ensure that we are constantly striving for excellence in our ideas and in the design and layout of our advertising platforms”.
Just seen this in an ad for a JP Advertising Sales Manager. “Striving for excellence” meant taking design to India then?
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Some of Johnston’s offices are in desperately poor shape and a lot of money needs to be spent on them.
One I know in particular is like a time warp – like something out of the 50s and the sign outside of what was once a lovelylocal paper (bought out some years ago) swings in the wind like something out of an old cowboy film. It is the dirtiest sign I have seen outside a paper.
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That’s what annoys me. The bloody non-JP branded pens.
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