Johnston Press has reported a pre-tax loss of £23.9m for last year, and announced a lucrative deal to print Richard Desmond’s Express and Star titles in the north of England.
The regional newspaper publisher, which racked up a pre-tax loss of £287m in 2013, due to cutting the carrying value of its titles and printing facilities, reported total revenues of £268.8m, a 7.3% decline.
On an underlying basis, stripping out the extra 53rd week included in last year’s results, Johnston Press said that total revenues dropped by just 4.4%. This marks a third year of improvement compared with 2013’s fall of 5.2% and 2012’s 7.4%.
At an operating level, profits rose by 2.2% from £54.3m to £55.5m, a second year-on-year rise.
Digital revenues rose by 20%, rising from £24m to £28.8m. Combined print and digital advertising revenue was down 4.2% to £167.2m last year.
Newspaper sales revenue fell 4.8% from £81.8m to £77.9m.
Johnston Press said that it reached the “digital tipping point” – where revenues last year were more than those in 2013 in a category, in a publishing unit, in a given month – 290 times.
The company also announced a deal with Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, to print the titles in the north of England.
Johnston Press said the five-year deal is worth “multi-millions”.
“Following the refinancing we are seeing the business transform into a modern multimedia organisation,” said the Johnston Press chief executive, Ashley Highfield. “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 continued to cut its cost base, reducing underlying operating costs by £13.8m to £210.4m.
Net debt stands at £184.6m, down from £302m in 2013 following a refinancing.
