Regional and national newspaper publisher Reach plc has delivered a mixed set of trading results for the period July to September, with overall revenues climbing by more than a fifth following the acquisition of the Daily Express and Daily Star.
In a trading update published this morning, the group, formerly known as Trinity Mirror, reported a 21pc rise in overall revenues compared to the same period in 2017.
However like for like revenues, excluding the Express and Star titles which were acquired earlier this year, were down 7pc.
And while like for like circulation revenues showed a small decrease of just 4pc, print advertising revenues showed a much sharper decline, falling 20pc year-on-year.
Overall digital revenues were up 7pc while digital display and transactional revenues grew by 12pc.
The update reported “good progress” on the integration of the Express and Star titles within the enlarged group, with expected “synergy savings” of £2m this year and £20m by 2020.
Chief executive Simon Fox said: “I am pleased with the progress being made on the integration of Express & Star and remain confident that we will deliver at least £20 million of annual synergy savings by 2020.
“Our continued focus on tightly managing costs and driving digital revenue continues to provide confidence that performance for the year will be in line with market expectations.”
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Remove the smoke and mirrors around the Daily E&S and the true year on year core trading position is clear:
circulation revenues down 4pc with print advertising revenues falling yet another 20pc
Losses on continually falling base figures are serious cause for concern as it’s an indication of their worth and value, or lack of,to the communities in which they operate.
Fox’s comment;
“…we will deliver at least £20 million of annual synergy savings by 2020”
must be the biggest cause for concern to anyone still hanging on in there though as ‘ synergy savings’ nine times out of ten means further job cuts.
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