Johnston Press signals further job cuts as profits rise

Widespread cost cutting led to a 23% leap in pre-tax profit at Johnston Press, though the newspaper publisher warned more cutbacks could be on the way.

The London-listed owner of a number of regional papers concentrated in Scotland and the North of England saw total revenue decline 6.8% to £242.3m in the year to 2 January, though profits were up by 22.6% to £31.5m.

Cost-cutting measures reduced Johnston’s costs to £191.7m from £205.3m during the period. Debt also reduced by £14.8m, to £179.4m, with interest payments down almost £10m to £19.1m.

Despite the improvements, the group said it had identified a number of news brands which were now considered “non-core”, which would be either disposed of or run with further reduced costs.

Chief executive Ashley Highfield said the company hopes to sell the brands, and indicated there had been interest in some of its assets, though he could not rule out folding some titles.

Headcount at Johnston Press had shrunk to 2,840 from 3,242 a year ago, but the company said market conditions were forcing it to continue to control costs and reduce its debt further.

“We are a public limited company and our primary objective is to keep the business moving forward,” Highfield said.

“The tough trading conditions have already been highlighted by Daily Mail and General Trust and Trinity Mirror. We are being prudent in not anticipating it getting better, and we are going to make sure we are cutting our cloth appropriately,” he added.

Johnston Press was gearing up to take control of national cut-price title i on 10 April, which it had purchased from the Lebedev empire for £24m in February.