Regional publisher Archant has reported a 20pc increase in profits for 2015 with circulation rises at its magazine titles offsetting falling newspaper sales.
The Norwich-based group posted profits of £9.6m last year despite a 1.9pc drop in overall revenues to £114.6m.
As a result it is now proposing to pay a dividend of 5p per share, the first such payment since 2012.
It also said the increase in profits in 2015 had been achieved without cutting staff.
The company attributed the profits rise to an increase in circulation at some of its magazines.
Circulation revenue at its newspaper titles showed a small year-on-year increase, with cover price rises offsetting falling sales.
The most recent ABC figures covering the period July to December 2015 showed Archant’s two Norfolk dailies performing relatively well compared to the industry as a whole.
Average circulation at the Norwich Evening News was down 3.9pc year-on-year, the Eastern Daily Press down 5.5pc, the Ipswich Star down 7.6pc and the East Anglian Daily Times down 9.3pc.
In an interview with Media Guardian, chief executive Jeff Henry, pictured, said the improved performance was due to focusing on Archant’s core business in print.
He said: “2015 was about very careful husbandry of our existing customers, of our existing businesses, not sacrificing it at the altar of digital. In 2016 we are going to make much more progress in digital than in 2015.”
Jeff also said he was not concerned about consolidation in the regional media or competition for national advertising as it only accounted for 8pc of revenues.
He said: “Archant is focussing on what we can do within improving the lives and businesses of the communities we serve. Our main strategy is not about making ourselves having a general UK appeal, it’s about having massive appeal and relevance in our local community.”
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Blimey, well done those people. But just cut out all that “communities we serve” nonsense, could you? It’s a business not a social welfare agency. And does anyone have news of Mustard TV? It was a must-watch at Minim Mansions.
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Excellent! I hope that means a staff bonus Jeff.
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Seems to be some sense being talked here. Well said, Jeff.
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So now we know the future. Fluffy glossy mags requiring little but frothy lightweight journalism will save us all.
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Mysticmeg , you obviously haven’t seen some of our magazines recently. They’re actually rather good and are doing things the local newspapers no longer can.
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“2015 was about very careful husbandry of our existing customers, of our existing businesses, not sacrificing it at the altar of digital.”
A dose of common sense, there. At least some of the woes of local and regional publishing are down to two things: firstly, execs chasing younger, “aspirational” readers (in vain) while failing to serve their already-loyal older market, and, secondly, giving their product away online without first figuring out whether that makes any commercial sense.
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Bingo!
the expected ‘ performing better than national trend’ line about the EN/EDP performing less badly than others had been trotted out!
And it’s great to hear there will be staff bonuses this year too.
Also interesting to hear digital will be the focus in 2016, nothing about the core newspapers then?
Are they seen as a lost cause?
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“Chief executive Jeff Henry, told Media Guardian that the improved performance was due to focusing on Archant’s core business in print.
He said: “2015 was about very careful husbandry of our existing customers, of our existing businesses, not sacrificing it at the altar of digital.”
Focusing on the core business in print…. and not sacrificing it at the altar of digital. Who would have thought it?
After years of sacrificing careers at the altar of digital (and Mustard TV) it seems the penny has finally dropped.
It would be interesting to know:
which magazines are the star performers
how much revenue the EDP/ EN ES EADT contributed.
How much digital revenue was raised.
How much Mustard TV raised.
We need an accurate breakdown of figures. Meat on the bones time.
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Mystic – you need to take a closer look at some of these magazines. It’s definitely not all fluff and froth. You’ll find some excellent in-depth journalism, well-written articles and entertaining columnists – all wrapped up in genuine local knowledge.
You know… that elusive thing that’s often missing in ailing newspapers, where print can actually have the edge over digital.
While it’s true that some free mags clearly are produced as money-making vehicles (nothing wrong with that), the paid for ones are high quality products clearly appreciated by their specialist or local readers.
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Brace yourselves, the Archant keyboard warriors are coming…
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“..price increases offset falling sales”
“..profits rise due to an increase in circulation at some of its magazines”
Good to see an on paper overall rise of 20% but concerning that this “growth” was built on the shifting sands of poor performance by the core products,eg the news papers,if indeed they are any longer deemed “core products”
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Brace yourselves the yes men are poised to nod and agree with the company line
#headinthesand
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Runaway ed
” the paid for ones are high quality products”
have you seen them lately?
Certainly the London Resident brands and the Norfolk ones are little more than PR magazines for local property agents in an attempt to curry favour, massage egos and do anything to hold on to the ad revenue from this lucrative category.
As for their nauseous ” top ten best looking sales negotiator” or ” most eligible estate agent” type space fillers, they’re on a level with Mustard tv in the embarrassment stakes.
Desperate times make for desperate measures which is a shame because the Norfolk magazine was a good publication and was taken seriously back in the day
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“..Average circulation at the Norwich Evening News was down 3.9pc year-on-year, the Eastern Daily Press down 5.5pc”
It’s incredible that Jeff Henry describes this as “Norfolk dailies performing relatively well”
My how far have standards and expectations fallen when the once proud and valued daily paper now only represents around 3%of its area and yet is seen as “performing well ” even coming from an already eroded base.
And if this is due to “..focusing on Archant’s core business in print’ it doesn’t bode well for the future does it
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I get one of Archant’s “premium” magazines shoved through my door for free on a monthly (I think) basis. It is truly a dismal read consisting entirely of advertising/advertorial and a few fluffy features. Judging by its contents page it is thrown together by a few freelancers. If that is the future of local journalism (and it might well be – my local Archant newspapers are haemorrhaging sales) it’s not exactly a cheering idea.
And when whey say they’ve had “circulation rises at some magazines” is that an increase in people buying magazines? Or are they just producing more free ones?
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At long last, print bites back. Sort of…
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Rouen Roadstar – The Resident is freely distributed to upmarket addresses into entertainment, interiors and property, so if it does exactly what it says on the tin and makes money, all well and good.
Norfolk Magazine is the county’s top selling glossy, with a mix of local people and lifestyle features.
I see a handful of the other paid fors regularly and they are all of a very good standard. Having said that I’m sure they have the potential to do even better with improved marketing and investment. The same could no doubt be said for some of the newspapers.
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And so you’d imagine the big cheeses at Archant HQ would leave the successful magazine division alone and not meddle too much in the great results being achieved, wouldn’t you? Ahem.
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Thanks for the PR piece about the magazines runawayed we could have read that on the company website but appreciate the overview anyway.
However I think you’ve missed the point from @roadster the issue is surely about the once credible Norfolk magazine being turned so blatantly into a property agents ego boosting vanity publication which is a shame as with more quality competitors on the patch you’d hope this kind of over the top commercialism would be reigned in
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Cotswold Life is one of the best magazines I have ever read in my life!
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Now they realise they can make money with the staff they’ve got, far from giving them a bonus they’ll sack a few to make more. It’s happened time and time again. This isn’t actually good news for anyone except the bosses, who each possess thousands of Archant shares.
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An interesting view that just because I disagree with someone’s opinion, I’m automatically a “Yes man” or an “Archant keyboard warrior”. I’m not sure that many people who know me would recognise that description.
You seem to have missed the word “some” in my original post. “Some” of our magazines are indisputably crap. “Some” are glossy, letterbox frees that are never going to raise the roof editorially, but do the job and make money. But most of our county mags are rather good – informative, interesting and entertaining. They are also producing content that many local newspapers have given up on through lack of resource or space. Analysis and explanation. Five-page news backgrounders on key issues. Brilliant columnists.
The negative naysayers could probably do with taking a wider view and give credit where it’s due.
And yes, I do edit an Archant county magazine!
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“it’s about having massive appeal and relevance in our local community.”
theyve a long way to go there then as with so few copies being sold (EDP less than 4pc of the areas population) jeff henry obviously can`t have looked at how bad the copy sales figures really are
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News in the county glossies Mike?
Five page backgrounds on key issues in a lifestyle magazine?
Brilliant columnists??
Not the ones I’ve seen,between the adverts it’s just fluff, fashion, few foodie bits,page after page of vanity property space fillers and party photos of events attended by the usual Archant freeloaders.
There’s certainly opportunities for decent county lifestyle magazines to launch if the ones I see are anything to go by.
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Some of the Archant magazines I have seen actually are superb. It is just a crying shame that the company is allowing its flagship newspapers to go to the wall. As for Mustard TV, I can’t comment because I’ve never seen it, despite living a stone’s throw from Norwich and being bombarded with puffs for it in my EDP.
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Paul, it’s not a difficult concept to embrace.
‘SOME’.
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Analysing the revenues in the latest annual report it would appear that Archant has evolved into an outside print and events organsining company as these are the two areas showing growth (+4.6%) whilst the once core revenue areas of circulation fell just under £2million as reported,whilst advertisng and other revenue inc. digital, fell steeply with newspaper advertising 5.2% down and magazines down 6.7%
interesting to note that despite this loss of core revenues “performance related bonus payments” rose from £221k in 2014 to a whopping £866k in 2015
Unless I’ve read it wrong ?
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Mike Lowe
Some?
Care to name them ?
I too can find nothing of the sort in the ones I see and I see most of archants magazine output
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Interesting isn’t it, that although the majority of the paid for specialist and county magazines clearly have their heads bobbing above the waves, bucking national trends, there are still people who say these publications are full of rubbish. Perhaps they are not the best judges and it should be left to the readers who buy them in supermarkets or through subscriptions.
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Are the magazine circulations on the up then runawayed?
Where are the figures published?
And should the fact that ‘people buy them’ be the only thing that matters?
Oh for the days of pride in the content and of a job well done rather than if people buy it that’ll do
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Reply to OldCynic
“firstly, execs chasing younger, “aspirational” readers (in vain) while failing to serve their already-loyal older market, and, secondly, giving their product away online without first figuring out whether that makes any commercial sense.”
In the trade this is called a ‘Crawleyism’. Chasing the audience which few premium advertisers are interested in and ignoring a platform that others are starting to monetize. Commercial sense has always been to follow today’s money not yesterdays money.
We look up in despair at the death-throws of careers well past their sell by date.
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