Johnston Press, which owns regional titles such as the Blackpool Gazette and the Yorkshire Post, said that advertising had achieved growth in all categories except in the motor advertising sector of Regional Independent Media, which it bought in April.
It said that advertising revenue growth in the second half of the year was continuing at modest levels, up by 2.8% for the five months ending November 30.
"The outlook for the year to December 31 2002 is for profit to be at the top of the range of current market estimates. While no early change in the trading environment is expected, the board is confident of the company's ability to perform satisfactorily in 2003, assisted by continued close management of costs, an expected further reduction in the cost of newsprint and a first full-year contribution from RIM," Johnston Press said in a statement.
Shares in Johnston, which is the fourth-largest publisher of local and regional newspapers in the UK, rose by 1.1% this morning to trade at 402.5p, a rise of 4.5p on yesterday's closing price.
In regional newspapers overall, display advertising was up by 6.4% in the third quarter of 2002, according to the Advertising Association. Total adspend in the regional press was up by 2% year on year to £730m for the quarter.
The Newspaper Society said that advertisers such as Tesco, McDonald's and Weetabix had all "substantially" increased their year-on-year spend in regional newspapers.
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