Johnston Press recovers after tough post-Brexit vote period

Multimedia company Johnston Press, owner of brands like The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, has reported an improvement in trading in the fourth quarter after a 5% fall in revenue during the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

The group recovered in the fourth quarter with a 1% rise in total revenues from the previous year driven by strong performance from the i and other key titles like The Yorkshire Post.

Falling advertising revenues and print circulation has led to a 7% fall in advertising revenue in the third quarter and by 3% in the fourth quarter.

The fall in the value of the pound has also hit the print industry hard as it increased the cost of imported paper and ink. The management’s continued focus on costs has however enabled it to maintain an adjusted earning before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around 22%.

In addition to the group's digital business3, both Media Sales Centre transactional revenues (telesales) and contract printing were each up 2% in 2016. The decline in circulation revenues in the existing portfolio has also been offset by strong i circulation revenues, resulting in growth in total circulation revenues up 11% year on year.

Chief executive Ashley Highfield said: "Despite the challenging print market, including a very difficult summer prompted by Brexit-related uncertainties, we have seen some improvement in our markets during the fourth quarter.

“Whilst we expect the overall market environment to remain challenging for both the group and the industry as a whole, we remain focused on delivering on our strategic priorities of growing our overall audience, driving the further success of the i newspaper, delivering a more efficient editorial and sales operation and strengthening the balance sheet."

The share price rose 8.32% to 17.06p at 1450 GMT on Friday.