Daily Mail print revenues down as it warns of Brexit uncertainty impact

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) reported a decline in third quarter revenue from print advertising as it warned of Brexit uncertainty.

The owner of Britain's second biggest selling daily newspaper, the Daily Mail, which lobbied hard for the UK to leave the European Union in the June referendum, said Brexit had caused uncertainty in the advertising market.

In a trading update for the three months ending 30 June, DGMT said it was performing broadly in line with expectations but “the Brexit result of the UK referendum has created some uncertainty, notably in respect of the UK advertising and property markets”.

Daily Mail Group Media (DMG Media) revenue fell 2% due to weak UK print advertising market, which the company said was partially offset by digital advertising growth and robust circulation revenue.

Total advertising across the DMG Media was down 4% with a 10% decline in print advertising, which was partly offset by 12% growth in digital advertising.

For the three weeks since 26 June 2016, total advertising revenues for the business have increased by 1% compared to last year, with an 8% decline in print advertising and 19% growth in digital advertising.

Circulation was down 1% due to decline in volumes, although it said it benefited from an increase in the cover price of the Monday-Friday Daily Mail from 60p to 65p. The Mail on Sunday increased its price by 10p to £1.70.

The Daily Mail’s market share is currently 22.8% and 21.8% for the Mail on Sunday.

MailOnline's advertising revenues increased by £3m, or 18%, partly offsetting a decline of £4m, or 11%, at the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday for the quarter. The website had 236m global monthly unique browsers in June 2016, up 25m or 12% on last year, and average global daily unique browsers were 15.1m, an increase of 10% on last year.

The company disposed of Wowcher in November 2015, which had an adverse impact on growth and DMG Media’s total reported revenues declined by 6% in the quarter.

However the company said it continued to benefit from a diverse portfolio of sectors across the business to business and consumer markets with the majority of profits being earned outside the UK.

Underlying revenue growth for the quarter rose 1% compared to last year, but the company said it benefited from the stronger US dollar as the pound plummeted after Brexit.

DMGT had underlying growth of 3% from its business to business portfolio. It reported an improved trend at Euromoney Institutional investors, in which it holds a 70% stake. Revenues declined by 1% but this was an improvement from the 6% decline in the first half of the year.

Risk management solutions, part of DMGT business to business sector, increased revenues by an underlying 5%, despite adverse impact of some client considerations. It also benefited from the stronger US dollar.

DMG Information’s revenues grew by underlying 6% in the quarter due to the strong US dollar. The company said trading at the property information businesses was expected to be adversely impacted by low commercial and residential property transaction volumes.

DMG Events’ revenues declined by an underlying 7% in the quarter due to the weak Canadian energy market which had an adverse impact on the global petroleum show in June.

Net debt remained in line with expectations at £719m.

Shares in DMGT were up 2.66% to 694p at 1135 BST.