Daily Mail group reports falling advertising revenue
THE company behind the 'Irish Daily Mail' and the 'Mail on Sunday' said advertising revenue continued to fall in the three months to January 1 as the economic climate in the UK deteriorated.
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said revenues for its first quarter from its Associated Newspapers division, which publishes the 'Mail' titles, were flat at £219m (€261m), but that disguised how total revenue from advertising slid 2pc to £111m.
Print advertising declined 7pc but digital soared 61pc. The 'Daily Mail' website is by some measures the most visited newspaper-owned website in the world.
Weak
"Retail (down 8pc) and travel (down 12pc) were the drivers of the overall 4pc year-on-year decline, reflecting the weak consumer spending environment," the company said.
Revenue from the 'Metro' morning newspaper "continued to show strong growth".
The fall in advertising continued into January, with ad revenues for the month down 9pc year-on-year.
Visibility on future newspaper advertising performance is "very limited", DMGT claimed, but cover price increases, the digital operation and a continuing focus on costs "will help to mitigate the decline in print advertising revenues", the firm said.
The company expects a "modest" newsprint price increase for the current financial year.
Overall, DMGT said like-for-like revenue climbed 2pc to £495m but problems continued at the group's regional newspaper arm, Northcliffe Media, where revenue fell 9pc.
DMGT does not break out quarterly figures for Ireland.
The lower advertising figure was a concern to investors, with shares in DMGT falling more than 3pc to 444.6p in London on the back of the news.
Associated Newspapers launched the 'Irish Daily Mail' in 2006 to great fanfare, but its most recent accounts show accumulated losses of more than €60m. The 'Irish Daily Mail' has a circulation of just under 50,000 in Ireland.
- Peter Flanagan
Originally published in
