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Regional publisher hails ‘successful’ year despite revenue fall

A regional publisher has hailed what it called a “successful” 2018 despite a decline in circulation and advertising revenues.

DC Thomson has published its annual results, with the company reporting an increase in underlying sales revenue of 2.9pc to £191.4 million.

Although circulation revenues were down by 1.5pc and advertising down 5.3pc over the course of the year, the decline is smaller than those reported by some other leading publishers.

DC Thomson owns four regional daily titles in Scotland, and well as Sunday, weekly and specialist publications.

The new Aberdeen Journals office

The new Aberdeen Journals office

The company said in a statement: “Despite ongoing challenges in the publishing industry, the long established media business continues to be successful.

“Circulation revenues were down by only 1.5pc and advertising down 5.3pc, making the relative performance of the media business one of the highest margin, most profitable portfolios in the country.

“Acquisitions including local radio station Wave FM and Aceville, a stable of specialist magazine titles, will add revenue and create synergies to enhance profitability.”

“While challenges remain in some of the markets in which the group operates, it expects its traditional business to continue to prosper and is committed to finding new products and markets.”

The company’s Aberdeen-based dailies the Press & Journal and the Evening Express moved to new offices in 2018, which it said emphasised its “commitment to supporting the best-selling regional newspaper in the UK.”

As well as its newspapers and magazines the company has also invested in genealogy website Find My Past and data hosting business Brightsolid, but it closed its book publishing division Parragon Books.

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  • January 7, 2019 at 7:05 am
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    “….it expects its traditional business to continue to prosper..”
    If newspaper sales and selling advertising isn’t its ‘traditional business’ then what is?
    As for ‘continue to prosper’ both of these core elements are in steep decline yet they appear to be quite content to let them continue to rot away taking cold comfort in the belief that it’s not as bad as some of the others.
    Being in denial is one thing,accepting underperformance and burying your head in the sand are a different kettle of fish and bigger concerns altogether.

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