Johnston Press slumps as sales keep falling

Shares in Johnston Press fell sharply after it reported a continuing decline in revenues as it battles with a shift to online readership.

In a trading update for the 17 weeks to the end of October, the newspaper publisher said underlying total revenues fell 8.8% year-on-year, having slid 7.6% in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, publishing revenues were down 10.8%, while print advertising revenues fell 14.7%,.

On the bright side, digital sales rose 8.4% and the group said digital audience growth remains a priority, with the number of unique users up on average by 22% to 21.5m per month during the period.

Circulation revenues were down 7.2%, having dropped 6.5% in the second quarter.

Nevertheless, the company said it expects underlying profit and net debt for the full year to be in line with expectations, adding that it has retained its focus on cost savings and delivering strong cash flows and debt reduction.

In October, the group announced that it had closed or merged 11 small free print titles as part of the portfolio simplification programme and its move out of print titles.

It said on Thursday that this programme has continued, with seven further titles being closed or merged, which will help its “strategy to align resource to brands and geographies offering the greatest opportunity”.

At 1245 GMT, shares were down 11% to 47.19p.