Independent Star Ltd, publisher of the Irish Daily Star and sister title the Irish Daily Star Sunday , recorded a 6.8 per cent profits decline last year.
The company, jointly owned by Independent News & Media and Express Newspapers, made a pre-tax profit of €6.8m (£5.8m) in the year to the end of December 2008.
Managing director Paul Cooke said despite difficult trading conditions, particularly in the second half of the year, the strong profit performance showed the resilience of the Star’s brand.
Cooke said the company was trading profitably so far this year and was in line with budgets.
The Star’s circulation declined slightly in 2008. The daily title reported an average sale of 107,227, down 1.7 per cent year on year. Its Sunday stablemate saw its sale fall by 4.3 per cent to 60,637.
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