Johnston Press secures multi-million-pound printing deal for Sheffield
REGIONAL newspaper group Johnston Press has secured a multi-million-pound deal to transfer print of the Daily Express and the Daily Star to Dinnington.
The five-year agreement will start in July and provides a boost for the Yorkshire Post publisher, which has also today reported a 4.4% decline in revenue.
Underlying revenues for the year to January 3 were £265.9m, as the rate of decline has slowed slightly from previous years.
Although underlying profit rose from £8.9m to £29.9m, there were exceptional items totalling £53.8m from restructuring and refinancing costs.
Chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “We are seeing the business transform into a modern multimedia organisation.
“The strong growth in our digital audiences and accelerated growth of digital revenues, aided by the roll-out of Digital Kitbag and the launch of Sky Adsmart and 1XL are changing the shape of the company.
“We are excited about the future for the business and confident of delivering on our strategic objectives of growing an engaged audience base and returning our business to top line growth.”
The company’s digital revenue was up 20% from £24m to £28.8m, while its digital audience grew by 35.8% to an average of 16.7m.
Johnston also reported continued debt reduction, down 38.9% to £184m and reduced operating costs by £13.8m net of investment in its digital operations.
