Reach chief executive Jim Mullen has defended the company’s programme of cost-cutting which saw hundreds of journalists lose their jobs as the company published its annual results for 2023.

Today’s figures revealed that revenues at the UK’s biggest regional publisher fell by £32.8m or 5.4pc during the 12 months to December, while profits were down 9pc from £106.1m to £95.6m.

This included a 15pc drop in digital revenue, mainly due to the falls in referral traffic from tech platforms, and a 2pc drop in print revenue, although print circulation revenues rose by 1.6pc.

In a statement accompanying the results, Mr Mullen, pictured, defended the pre-Christmas cutbacks which saw 450 jobs lost including around 300 editorial roles.

He wrote: “We continued our transformation in the year, taking action to ensure that our cost base reflects the economic environment in which we operate, and to enable us to become a digital-first organisation.

“To achieve this, we needed to reduce the size of some of our teams. This is not a decision I or my management team take lightly. However, recent trends have only reinforced our belief that we must be willing to make big changes to exert more control over our own destiny and protect our brands in the long term.

“We operate in a dynamic, competitive and constantly evolving market and 2023 was no exception. The period of economic volatility that began in 2020 has continued to impact the market, placing pressure on advertising spend and inflating costs for both businesses and consumers.

“Throughout the year, our entire industry saw a fall in referral traffic from tech platforms and we were not immune from that. Facebook, one of our largest traffic referrers, has shifted away from news content and we have contended with numerous Google core algorithm updates, each one requiring us to pivot on how we deliver content to our audiences.

“Across the business, we successfully delivered a 5.7pc reduction in operating costs (on a like-for-like basis), against the 5-6pc reduction we targeted at the start of the year. As announced in November 2023, to set ourselves up for success in 2024 we have committed to and already started to deliver a further 5-6pc reduction in our operating cost base.

“In the wider industry context, with many organisations now making similar decisions to those we took in late 2023, we believe our early action demonstrates responsible foresight and planning.

“As labour represents our single largest cost, there is no getting away from the fact that we have had to reduce the size of our teams to save cost and re-shape for the future. I do not underestimate the impact of these decisions on all of our people.

“During this period, I led a programme of small group discussions and town hall meetings with leaders and colleagues, to share updates, provide important context about the need for change, and facilitate open dialogue. Honest colleague communication remains something that I’m passionate about and committed to investing time into, all year round.”

Today’s results showed print circulation revenues up to £312.5m from £307.7m the previous year, while print advertising revenue declined from £86.9m to £76.6m.

Mr Mullen said: “Our print business continues to generate strong returns, despite the falling demand across the sector. Our experienced circulation teams use decades of data to expertly inform our approach to price increases and availability, both of which are critical to underpinning sales volume.”

The chief executive went on to highlight some of the group’s editorial achievements in the year, singling out the Manchester Evening News’ award-winning Awaab’s Law campaign which has now resulted in new legislation.

He added: “These highlights all wield the power and impact they do precisely because of our wide reach, with our scale and editorial purpose working hand in hand. Despite the challenges of the business environment, Reach remains the largest publisher in the UK and Ireland, reaching 36m adults digitally every month which is 72pc of the online population.”

In his statement, Mr Mullen said Reach had “steadily increased” its use of AI throughout the year, while ensuring that “every story is edited and approved by a journalist.”

He concluded: “2023 was a critical moment for this business, allowing us to put several significant issues in the past and to focus instead on looking forward, and I am confident that we are now well positioned to take on the future.

“As always, there are challenges ahead. The macro environment is unlikely to provide much relief over the near term and we are working to secure our audience and build our data-driven digital business. This will be achieved through small incremental gains and by continuing to build direct relationships with our audiences.

“Our industry has a history of change and the future will undoubtedly see yet more. That’s why it’s essential we set ourselves up to win by making our operations suited to an increasingly fast-paced, competitive and digital world.”