Johnston Press says:
Following the acquisition of the i newspaper in April 2016 and its subsequent strong performance, and an improvement in trading since Brexit, total group revenues year-on-year for the 17 week period to 29 October, were down 5.1%. Total group revenues year-on-year were 3.2% down in October versus 9.9% down in H1.
Circulation revenues year-on-year increased 18.8% for the 17 week period, with October up 22.5%, (versus 2.3% in H1)2, reflecting strong circulation volumes from the i newspaper increasing 4.6% to an average of 290,000 per day in September. The i has grown its market share from 18.5% to over 20% of the quality newspaper segment.
Digital advertising revenues (excluding classifieds) returned to growth of 8.4% in October, 2.8% down for the 17 week period as a whole, (0.6% down in H1), driven by strong national digital performance from the 1XL network and strengthening local display.
Combined print and digital advertising revenues excluding classifieds, which were particularly affected by tough trading conditions earlier this year, were down 6.8% for the 17 week period, (3.5% down in October), having been down 9.2% in H1.
Transactional revenues (Telesales out of the Media Sales Centre) including BMDs, public notices and other small classifieds, were down 4.3% for the 17 weeks, (2.8% down in October), having been down 7.2% in H1. The classified categories of employment, property and motors, were down 31.9% for the 17 week period, impacted by the structural shift in the market and now represent less than 16% of total Group revenues in October.
Audience growth remains a priority and the number of digital unique users has grown on average from 20.3m to 23.1m per month for September year-on-year.
Following the successful disposal of the Isle of Man titles in August, we continue to explore opportunities for further divestment, and will provide an update when appropriate.
We remain focused on cutting costs to mitigate revenue declines and the impact of sterling weakness on paper prices, and assuming no further deterioration in trading conditions, the Board expects performance to continue in line with expectations.
