Profits pain for newspaper group

NEWSPAPER group Johnston Press, owner of 40 titles in the North West including the Lancashire Evening Post, has seen its half-year profits slashed by more than half.

Pre-tax profits before non-recurring items for the six months to June 30 were £27.5m, a drop of 56.1% on the same period last year. Revenue fell by 25% to £218.6m.

Johnston Press, which saw advertising revenues drop by 32.7% on the same period last year, said it had agreed new finance facilities to cover the next three years.

The group said net debt had been reduced by £52.8m since the start of the year.

Chief executive John Fry said: “The timing of the economic upturn remains uncertain but advertising revenues are demonstrating greater stability and we expect the cyclical improvement when it comes to more than compensate any ongoing structural change.

“We will maintain our focus on costs and look to secure additional operating efficiencies during the second half of the year.”