The Telegraph Media Group made more than £60m last year, The Guardian can reveal. It is the third successive year that the company has managed to increase its operating profit.
TMG is expected to report what amounts to a record figure formally in the spring when it files its accounts for the full 12 months of 2013 at Companies House.
So the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, which is ultimately owned by Sirs David and Frederick Barclay, continues to defy the newspaper publishing sector's downward market trend.
Rival titles, such as The Times, The Independent and The Guardian, have been recording losses for several years. In 2012, TMG made £58.4m, and in 2011 its profit was £55.7m.
Evidently, TMG's advertising revenues have remained relatively stable. It has also enjoyed a boost in subscriptions since it launched its online metered paywall. That was introduced internationally in November 2012 and was extended for domestic users in March 2013.
An inside source says charging for access has "reaped rewards, with nine out of 10 people who trial the free-month offer going on to subscribe."
No-one at TMG was available for comment.
