Reach plc has revealed an overall decline in revenues last year despite an increase in income from income from digital platforms.
The publisher has today published its annual report for 2019, in which it confirmed reported revenue of £702.5m – a 3pc drop on the previous year.
However, a 25pc increase in the number of online pages views helped digital revenue increase to £107m over the same period – a 13.2pc change on a like-for-like basis.
Print revenue declined by 5.1pc to £591.3m over the course of 2019, while circulation revenue declined by only 4.5pc, compared to a fall of 5.1pc in 2018, which the company owed partially to cover price increases.
Advertising revenue fell by 19.4pc, compared to 16.2pc in 2018, which Reach said was in part driven by the agreed reduction in Health Lottery advertising as part of the Express & Star acquisition.
Statutory profit after tax amounted to £94.3m compared to a loss after tax of £119.6m in 2018.
In his review, Reach chief executive Jim Mullen, pictured, noted that Reach was now the fifth biggest digital asset in the UK – after Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft – and stated the company’s aim to make more of user registration in future.
He wrote: “In many of the large UK cities we serve, Reach’s news content is relied upon for daily consumption by more than 50pc of the local population. When we take our significant regional and national print products into account, we have a reach of 47m people accessing our content.
“Amongst the top four of the UK’s digital assets, we estimate that more than 90pc of customers have signed up and provided their data. This has enabled these digital content providers to develop strong commercial offerings.
“In contrast, to date less than circa 2pc of Reach’s customers have given us their consent through registration, largely because we have not asked for it. This highlights the initial opportunities we have and the very significant growth potential we see.
“Increased customer engagement will come from driving registration by engaging customers on key verticals and getting a better understanding of their behaviours and top interests.
“This increase in registered users will enable us to better personalise our offering and introduce these customers to new products and services.”
Sign up for our free daily email bulletin
Follow HTFP on Twitter
Got a story? Email the Editor at
Print revenue nearly £600 million. Digital revenue just over £100 million. Do the maths.
Report this comment
Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Reach Plc. Which is the odd one out and why?
Report this comment
“….registered users will enable us to better personalise our offering and introduce these customers to new products and services.”
So that’ll be even more unwanted and intrusive pop ups,’sponsored content’ and click through links to other stories you’d previously ignored, yay! where do I sign up?!
They’ve had a bad year, now it’s your turn
Report this comment
I echo Paperboy’s sentiments.
So print, despite having the life sucked out of it for the last 15 years, is still producing nearly six times the revenue that digital does.
Would any of the prophets of doom care to explain/ comment? Forget about using smoke and mirrors..
Report this comment
It could be worse, they could be reduced to asking the public to prop them up by way of paying for content , or maybe ask Google to give them a million or three to come up with a solution
Worth a try
Report this comment
“Statutory profit after tax amounted to £94.3m compared to a loss after tax of £119.6m in 2018.”
Does this mean after all deductions the company made £94.3m in 2019 after losing £119.6m the year before? Surely not? And why is this never reported in a way someone without any knowledge of business finances can understand?
Report this comment
Reach is the big digital hitter in the UK newspaper industry and boasts impressive figures. Most web visits are for a quick read and if Reach thinks it can bombard users with numerous sales and services contacts it might find it hard to keep impressive figures. People want free news that’s all. Trouble is, after over a decade of trying, and constant waffling, newspaper websites – unlike printed newspapers with a fraction of web readership – struggle to make money.
Report this comment
The New York Times has reported that in the US Gannett is now up for sale at $261m. Only one potential buyer decided against it because it wasn’t worth saving – too much debt, bad management etc. What was worth saving were the journalists themselves. It is looking like Big News increasingly going to be broken up in the US because the model doesn’t work. And where America leads…
Report this comment
I’d love to see a break down of what it cost to create the online revenue and how much it lends from printed media revenue. It looks good but I’m sure if you knuckled down on the nitty gritty you’d realise that they’d come nowhere near that figure if the resources created by print were not there.
I’m sure someone on here far more intelligent than I could look at the statement alongside personal knowledge and give us all an idea.
Report this comment