Print decline outpaced digital growth in the third quarter for DMGT’s Mail titles and Metro

A “difficult” period for the UK print advertising market saw DMG Media, publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online and Metro, record a 5 per cent year-on-year underlying revenue decline between April and June.

In a trading update, DMGT said circulation revenues of the newspapers were down by 3 per cent during the quarter, despite the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday increasing the share of their respective markets. The daily title’s market share increased, year-on-year, from 22.3 per cent to 23.4 per cent, and The Mail on Sunday – which increased its cover price by 10p to £1.60 in April – from 21.4 per cent to 22.1 per cent.

Advertising revenue was down 6 per cent year-on-year overall, with newspaper advertising revenue down 13 per cent but digital revenue up 7 per cent.

The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday saw their advertising revenue fall by £7m (15 per cent) year-on-year in the quarter. Mail Online’s advertising revenue growth was up by £1m (8 per cent). Across the Mail businesses, underlying advertising revenues were down 9 per cent overall.

DMGT said other digital advertising – which includes Wowcher and Elite Daily, a US website (which calls itself “The Voice of Generation Y”) bought by the group in January this year – was up 24 per cent. DMGT added in the update that advertising revenues were “adversely impacted” by the disposal of digital recruitment business Evenbase last year.

DMGT said: “Given the weaker UK print advertising environment, DMG Media's underlying revenues for the full year are now expected to show a low-single digit percentage decline rather than the stable performance previously guided to.”

Across DMGT, the period saw an underlying revenue loss of 1 per cent. Euromoney, like DMG Media, recorded an underlying revenue loss of 5 per cent.