SHARES IN Johnston Press fell 5.6% on Tuesday after the Scotsman publisher and regional newspaper group racked up a pre-tax loss of £6.8 million despite a major corporate restructuring.
The company saw overall revenues for the year drop by £15.1m to £358.7m, although the figure was lifted by a one-off payment of £30m from News International in relation to the breaking of a long-term print contract for the News of the World.
The overall loss for the year was signficiantly less than seen in 2011 when Johnston posted a £143.8m loss.
However, the 2011 figure included a one-off £163.7m write down in the value of its newspaper titles across the UK and on an underlying basis Johnston actually saw pre-tax profits fall by £15.8m during 2012 to £12.6m.
Despite the latest loss, the cancellation of any shareholder dividend and a 12.7% reduction in total advertising revenues to £201.9m, the company yesterday said it had made substantial progress in implementing its turnaround strategy during 2012.
The firm closed two printing plants in Peterborough and Sunderland during the year incurring a charge of £17.2m and wrote down a further £7.5m in relation to property being sold off.
Chief executive Ashley Highfield said the restructuring which led to costs on the business of £24.4m during the year was progressing with 69 titles relaunched during the year on course for a target of 227 by the middle of this year.
He also said headway had been made in improving the firm’s digital offering.
However, he acknowledged there was still work to be done to reshape the business.
“Good progress has been made in the process of transforming the group in 2012 and the changes made provide a strong platform to build on in 2013,” Mr Highfield said.
“The economic environment remains challenging, but with the steps that we have taken to improve the effectiveness of the business, to accelerate the growth of our digital revenues, and to continue to manage our costs tightly, we believed we are well positioned to deliver a strong operating performance in 2013 along with continued strong cash flow.”
Chairman Ian Russell said making the most of opportunities in the online arena were key to delivering growth in the long term.
He said: “It is essential that we increase our profitability and use the changes and innovations that we are undertaking to grow revenues.
“To do so, digital revenues will be key but our established print business also has an essential role to play.”
business@thecourier.co.uk