Commenting on these results, John Fry (pictured), Chief Executive Officer of Johnston Press plc said: “In the first half the Group achieved an operating profit before non-recurring items of £40.5m up from £38.2m in the prior year. This represents our first operating profit increase reported since 2006.
As we move into the second half of the year, we have seen the improving trend in advertising revenues continue with total advertising in the first six weeks on a like-for-like basis only down 3.7%. Within this performance digital revenues grew by 9.7%. Circulation revenues in July have also performed well and are down only 1.6%. These industry leading trends which demonstrate the strength of our publishing portfolio along with our continued focus on costs, efficiencies and debt reduction, give the Board confidence, in the absence of a further deterioration in the UK economy, that the outcome for the Group in 2010 will be in line with current market expectations.”
