Johnston Press ad revenues down 2.3% but digital sector grows

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 20-Jun-07, 10:50

LONDON - Johnston Press, publisher of The Scotsman newspaper, has revealed its UK ad revenues for the first five months of the year are down 2.3%, in a trading update today.

The company, which publishes 291 weekly and 18 daily newspapers in the UK, cited a very slow Easter holiday period and the adverse impact of the parliamentary elections in Scotland as reasons for the continuing decline.

However, it said the rate of decline is slowing when compared with the first two months of 2007, when ad revenues were down year-on-year by 2.9%.

Advertising revenues for its titles in the Republic of Ireland grew by 10.5% from January to the start of June.

The company's digital portfolio, which totals 317 local websites, reaching an estimated unique monthly audience of 6.6m, has experienced strong revenue growth, rising 34.7% in the same period.

Growth in the property ad sector continued to June, but the fall in the motoring, recruitment and display ad sectors also continued.

Circulation revenues are ahead from the same time last year, as are print revenues because of external contracts being printed at Dinnington -- the £60m press site that opened last year.

Johnston Press expects this growth to continue into the second half of the year, as it commissions the new press at Portsmouth.

The company said that revenue performance met expectations and it predicts a satisfactory outcome for the year as a whole.

In January this year, Johnston Press acquired 15 Scottish regional newspapers and magazines from Archant for £11.2m. The portfolio included Buchan Observer, Lanarkshire Extra and the Glasgow Southside.