Revenues for 2006 were up 16% to £602m from £520m last time.
The company, which publishes 291 weekly and 18 daily newspapers in the UK, said total UK ad revenues were also down, falling 2.9% for the first nine weeks of 2007. It said the decline was slowing down, and that it expected to register "an improvement in year-on-year performance over the coming months".
Growth in the property ad sector for early 2007 has been hit by continuing declines in the motoring, recruitment and display ad sectors, with Johnston Press experiencing an industry-wide downturn in the UK regional newspaper market.
The company's digital portfolio, which totals 317 local websites reaching an estimated unique monthly audience of 6.6m, has experienced strong revenue growth, rising 36% to £11.3m. Digital assets also registered growth in usability, with unique users up 63% and page impressions also rising by 53%.
Johnston has downplayed suggestions that print ad revenue decline was only caused by migration to digital, pointing out that the main issues relate to "overall economic conditions".Roger Parry, chairman of Johnston Press, said: "In the early weeks of 2007, income from advertising in print products is slightly down on the levels of the same period last year, which reflects continued growth in property but further declines in motors, recruitment and display.
"However, the rate of decline is reducing and accordingly, the board believes that we will continue to see an improvement in the year-on-year performance over the coming months."
The company's £60m Dinnington press site opened ahead of schedule last year and within budget. Parry added he was optimistic that investing in new print technology would "bring benefits during 2007, but overall we expect revenues to be at a similar level to 2006".
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