Reach digital revenues fall in Q3

Publisher Reach said on Tuesday that digital revenues had taken a dive in the third quarter, principally due to "depressed open market yields" and declining digital referral volumes.

Reach said digital revenues fell 13.7% in the three months ended 24 September, while total turnover was down 7.8%. However, Reach said it will attempt to soften the blow to its bottom line by slashing operating costs by 5-6%.

The London-listed firm also said that contributions to the MGN Pension Scheme had continued to weigh on the group, with contributions expected to jump by £5.1m to £46.0m per annum until 2028.

Reach said its trading performance was still in line with forecasts and that it expects to meet current market expectations but looking forward, it does not anticipate the market backdrop to "change materially in the near term".

As of 0910 BST, Reach shares were up 1.96% at 82.23p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com