LONDON (Brand Republic) – UK newspaper and magazine publishing group Daily Mail & General Trust has reported a fall in full-year pre-tax profits to £191.5m, down from £205m in 1999.
The publisher of mid-market tabloid, the Daily Mail, attributed the fall in profits to increased investment in new projects to £69m. The expansion of its free daily commuter newspaper, Metro, drained most of the investment.
Turnover at the group was £1.86bn, an increase of 15% year-on-year.
The Daily Mail’s circulation rose an average of 1.1% over the year to almost 2.4m. The Mail on Sunday’s readership slid 0.1% and sales of the Evening Standard fell 1.6%.
DMGT said it expects newsstand sales of the Daily Mail to be hit next year following the takeover of mid-market rival, the Daily Express, by Northern & Shell, owner of Attitude and OK! magazines.
DMGT’s bid was all but rejected when United News & Media, the Express’s former owner, demanded a £55m non-refundable deposit before the company would be allowed to access sensitive financial information about Express Newspapers.
DMGT, which said advertising revenues rose 12% on its three paid-for newspapers, saw its net debt rise to £785m from £608m with £282m being spent on acquisitions.