Newspaper publisher Reach plc says it is continuing to consider merger and acquisition opportunities including those which “provide further industry consolidation”.

The regional publisher has confirmed its intention in a strategy update, published alongside its full year results this morning.

Reach had been in the running to buy JPIMedia until November last year, and was reported to have tabled an offer in the region of £50m before ending its interest in the company’s assets.

JPIMedia has since taken itself off of the market, with chief executive David King saying earlier this month it is “not actively exploring a sale” at present.

In the update, Reach chief financial officer Simon Fuller said: “We will continue to consider merger and acquisition opportunities which accelerate progress in the delivery of our strategy and where the financial and business cases meet our requirements.

“These opportunities could be to provide further industry consolidation, increase our digital footprint or audience scale, develop our product set or to monetise our existing audience.”

He added: “We believe growth from digital and new revenue streams will offset print declines on an aggregate basis, leading to a future stabilisation of revenue.

“This, combined with our inbuilt and relentless focus on maximising efficiency, gives the board confidence that the delivery of sustainable growth in revenue, profit and cash flow is achievable in the future, for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

The results revealed revenue had fallen in 2019 on a like-for-like basis by 5.3pc to £702.5m, and print revenue falling by 7.9pc.

Circulation revenue declined by 4.5pc and advertising revenue by 19.4pc, but digital revenue increased by 13.2pc.

The group recorded a statutory operating profit of £131.7m, while it also delivered structural cost savings of £12m and incremental acquisition synergies of £16m.

Chief executive Jim Mullen, pictured, said: “I was delighted to join Reach in August 2019 and have been impressed by the relentless focus on producing award-winning journalism and content that shapes national and regional conversations.

“These are strong foundations on which to invest and innovate to ensure a sustainable future for our trusted brands. 2019 was a year of good operational and solid financial progress with record growth in audience numbers, consistently good cash generation and a strong balance sheet.

“This, along with unparalleled scale, underpins our drive to build an intelligent, relevant and trusted content business for the long term whilst continuing to deliver for our stakeholders.

“Content is at the heart of the new customer value strategy we are announcing today. We have an unmatched reach in UK media and will deepen our relationships via increased customer engagement.

“Through this, we see significant potential to accelerate the diversification of our digital revenue and capture more value to deliver on our sustainable digital growth ambitions.”