Johnston Press to sell Isle of Man titles for £4.25m

Newspaper publisher Johnston Press has agreed to sell its titles on the Isle of Man to UK-based publisher Tindle Newspapers for £4.25m in cash.

The disposal includes the Isle of Man Examiner, Isle of Man Courier, Manx Independent and www.iomtoday.co.im, and will be effected by the sale of the company's subsidiary Isle of Man Newspapers Limited.

Proceeds from the disposal – which Johnston said was in line with its strategy to align resources to brands and geographies offering the greatest growth opportunities – will support the company's on-going investment in preferred markets and further deleverage it.

For the year to the end of December 2015, Isle of Man Newspapers Limited recorded a pre-tax profit of £598,000 and had gross assets of £1.78m.

Chief executive officer Ashley Highfield said: "This disposal is further progress in executing our divestment strategy and allows the group to realise immediate value from our Isle of Man assets."

At 1232 BST, shares were down 2.9% to 17p.