Up for sale JPIMedia recorded an operating loss of £34.5m after its first year in business, the company has revealed.

The regional publisher has published its first financial statement, accounting for the 66-week period up to 4 January 2020.

In the report, it revealed it had repaid £65m of debt over the period and generated £49.6m from the sale of the i newspaper to DMGT.

The company was formed in late 2018 when a deal was struck after Johnston Press, its predecessor, went into administration.

JPIMedia is currently seeking a buyer, the second time it has done so since it came into existence, with Archant and a consortium headed by former Local World boss David Montogmery understood to have tabled rival bids.

The company’s accounts show total revenue for the period stood at £145.9m.

Newspaper sales accounted for £52.2m of that, print advertising for £49.2m and digital advertising for 23.2m.

The revenue generated by contract printing stood at £13.7m, while other sources accounted for £7.5m.

The report stated that the group’s directors had a “reasonable expectation” that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.

It noted newspaper sales had declined during the period, but that the resulting revenue decline had been partially offset by cover price increases.

The report added: “Print advertising was impacted by structural decline, in part linked to reduced newspaper circulation. This was particularly pronounced in the classified advertising category (employment, property and motors).

“Digital advertising performance was varied across individual categories. National digital grew largely from programmatic revenues driven by higher digital page views, and classified verticals suffered from structural competitive pressures.

“Contract printing revenues of £13.7m were impacted by lost business following reduced sales volumes generally in the UK print publishing industry.”