The boss of Reach plc has defended the group’s policy of maintaining free-to-access websites funded by advertising while admitting that the user experience needs to improve.

Jim Mullen, left, delivered his chief executive’s report as Reach unveiled its annual results for 2024 today.

He defended the company’s strategy of maintaining paywall-free, ad-funded websites as “more important than ever” in an age of disinformation in which millions cannot afford to pay for news.

But he acknowledged that the experience of customers using those websites had to improve, arguing that the company had “already made great strides” in that area.

Today’s results show adjusted profits at Reach rose by £5.8m during 2024 to stand at £102.3m for the year, despite a drop in revenues of £30m.

The increase in profitablity can be largely put down to a £35.9m reduction in operating costs, which fell from £475m in 2023 to £439.1m.

Digital revenues rose by 2.1pc for the year as a whole, but were up 8.6pc in the period October to December.

Likewise page views were down 14pc for the year, but rose by 6pc in the final quarter of 2024.

Mr Mullen said in his report: “2024 was a robust year for Reach, with our teams continuing to deliver on our plans, and driving a return to growth both in digital revenue and in page views in Q4.

“While we have seen a challenging macro environment and the ongoing dominance of the tech platforms, our strategy, and the plans we put in place for the year, have continued to create value and further our transition to a more resilient digital business.

“Throughout all of this, we continued to serve our audiences free-to-access news, which has proven more important than ever in a year of historic elections across the world, social unrest caused by disinformation, and ongoing questions about the power of the platforms.

“Millions of people in this country are not in a position to pay for news and making ad-funded news sustainable will ensure that it remains accessible to all.”

He added: “Crucially, while page views for the year were down 14%, the trend improved significantly through the year, ending Q4 with a very encouraging 6% year-on-year increase.

“Our data-driven approach has supported this return to page view growth, with our AI-supported content recommender tool serving each customer more content they might enjoy.

“Behind all of this good work is the awareness that we must improve the customer experience on our websites so that our audiences can better enjoy our great content, and I am happy to say we have made good strides here.

“In 2024, we trialled a new website platform on the Liverpool Echo, which improved page loading speeds, removed the page shifting issue and increased page views per visit. We have since launched this platform on the Manchester Evening News, Daily Record, BirminghamLive, and the Daily Star, with page loading speed tripling on those sites and page views per visit up 2pc.”

Mr Mullen went on to highlight a number of examples of “impactful journalism” by Reach titles, singling out the Liverpool Echo’s coverage of the Southport riots and 5,000 voices, a series of vox pops gathered across Reach titles during the general election.

He said: “I was moved watching the aftermath of the Southport riots unfold, as our teams at the Liverpool Echo, and then our other national and local titles, provided reliable, trustworthy news at a time when the country needed it most, sometimes at their own personal risk.”

Mr Mullen concluded: “The media landscape has continued to evolve, and the year saw us adapt our own proposition with the introduction of the Content Hub and increased video capability.

“Our audiences have responded positively, demonstrating support for our offer and for the value of free-to-access, advertising-funded journalism that informs, is reliable and gives them a voice. We are well placed for 2025.”