The Independent has reported a steep reduction in losses to £4.6m for the year to September 2014.
This compares with an operating loss of £12.3m in the previous financial year and £16.6m in the year before that.
The Independent titles lost £22.6m in the year to September 2011 (the first complete year after Alexander Lebedev bought the newspapers in March 2010).
The company said the improvement was due to a “sharp rise in revenues” from the i newspaper, increased digital revenues and reduced production, printing and back office costs.
The i and Independent have a combined daily circulation of around 340,000.
The Independent averaged 60,438 in May (with 15,981 bulks) the i averaged 280,074 (with 67,448 bulks). The Independent on Sunday's average circulation last month was 101,179 (52,143 bulks).
The Independent website averaged 2.6m unique browsers a day in May, according to ABC.
Independent editor Amol Rajan said: “I believe the past two years have been a resounding success, both editorially and financially. I wanted to take the paper back to the future, and revive some of the spirit of our founders in 1986.
“Our redesign won several awards, we have broken countless exclusives; our foreign reporting has been peerless; our features, arts, business and sports coverage keep getting better; and our political journalism during the election was second to none.
“Our titles, including i and The Independent on Sunday, are a natural home for mischief and great writing once again – as the judges of this year’s British Press Awards recognised. Under Christian Broughton's outstanding leadership, our digital platforms are surging and The Independent is a true global force.”
ESI Media group chief executive Steve Auckland said: “Last year I came into a business which had clearly shown great resilience and tenacity for several years. After 9 months in the job I can see reasons for real optimism.
“We have cut costs without damaging our core brands and products, we’ve added new revenue streams, and restructured our commercial team which I think will ultimately boost performance.
“The Independent titles and website represent strong, proud and internationally respected brands which appeal to advertisers.
“Full credit should go to the teams and our collective thanks to the Lebedevs for their continued support.”
Yesterday ESI Media revealed that its local TV station London Live made a loss of £11.6m in the year to September 2014. It has yet to reveal the financial results of its other title, the London Evening Standard.
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