The Telegraph Media Group (TMG) made a pre-tax profit of £45.7m in 2014 compared to £57m the previous year, according to audited statements filed with Companies House.
The company’s operating profit last year totalled £54.9m as against £61.2m in 2013. A TMG press release points out that an £8m investment in digital operations affected the operating profit, which was in line with the unaudited figures that I reported in January.
TMG’s turnover in 2014 was £318.1 million compared to £325.2m the year before.
The release states that the group “delivered a good trading performance set against a challenging print trading environment and the investment in digital”.
It refers to “steady growth in digital revenues” which “partially mitigated the single digit declines in print advertising revenues and circulation revenues”.
And it says that costs have been controlled, with savings primarily from newsprint and distribution being reinvested in digital operations.
A story about the results posted on the Daily Telegraph website reveals that the paper’s website generated 72m global unique browsers and 453m global page views in December 2014, up from 61m and 344m in December 2013, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
TMG’s directors reported that the Telegraph’s “digital audience and revenue has continued to grow strongly” providing “a strong platform for growth in the coming year and beyond”.
The Telegraph appears to have come through a period of turmoil. In October last year, TMG cut 55 editorial jobs. In February, this year the resignation of the paper’s chief political commentator, Peter Oborne, made headlines after he claimed the paper’s editorial decisions had been influenced by the need to keep advertisers happy. Then, in April, the editor-in-chief, Jason Seiken, departed.
The Telegraph has been edited since by Chris Evans, who is liked by the staff and has succeeded in steadying the ship.
