Losses at the Evening Standard reduced last year after the closure of its daily print newspaper.
Losses before tax at Evening Standard Limited were £8.3m in the 15-month period to 31 December 2025 following a change in its accounting period.
In the 12 months to 29 September 2024, the company reported losses of £23.5m.
Last year was the smallest loss in ten years, since Evening Standard Ltd reported a profit for 2016 of £517,000.
Losses for the Evening Standard since October 2009 now total £157.7m up to 31 December last year. Alexander Lebedev (father of current controlling shareholder Evgeny) bought the title for £1 in January 2009 and took it free later the same year.
The Evening Standard closed its daily print edition in September 2024 and now puts out a weekly title on Thursdays with more of a magazine feel.
According to the accounts, the Evening Standard employed 119 fewer staff on average in the 15-month 2025 period (110) compared to a the previous year. The Evening Standard had 346 staff members when Lebedev first bought it in 2009.
Total staff costs fell from £19.3m in the 2024 financial year (including £3.7m in redundancy costs) to £7.5m in the 15-month period for 2025.
Evening Standard revenue was down 40% in 2025 despite the financial year being three months longer than the year before.
Evening Standard Ltd made total revenue of £14.1m in the 15 months to 31 December 2025. In the year to 29 September 2024, it reported revenue of £23.5m.
The revenue drop was attributed to both the closure of the daily newspaper and “ongoing structural decline in the advertising market”.
Advertising made up 90% of revenue (up from 80% in 2024). The London Standard Theatre Awards took a year off but returned in spring this year.
The accounts said revenue is “increasingly derived from digital advertising channels” but did not provide a print/online split.
Since the end of the financial year, the Standard’s editorial digital operation and its advertising sales across both print and online have transferred to Independent Digital News and Media, which
Evening Standard Ltd is continuing to run the print editorial of the Standard’s weekly magazine edition.
As a result, Press Gazette reported in April, out of 75 total Standard staff at the start of this year, 36 left the business, 23 transferred over to The Independent and 16 remained to work on the weekly print edition. There were no compulsory redundancies.
Lebedev is the controlling shareholder of the Standard and is also the largest single shareholder of The Independent. Both businesses are based in the same London building.
The strategic report in the accounts said: “Drawing on their considerable skills and experience in the digital media landscape, The Independent will seek to optimise commercial performance by aligning two iconic British media brands, creating a compelling and differentiated proposition for advertisers. This collaboration is expected to drive improved revenue outcomes and support the long-term sustainability of the company’s advertising income.”
The report also said that following the closure of the daily paper which led to smaller losses: “The transition of digital and print advertising management to The Independent is expected to generate further cost savings and provide the opportunity for optimised revenues, strengthening the company’s financial position over the medium term.”
In the 2025 financial year, the company received £6.5m in shareholder loans, compared to £23m in the 12 months before. A further £3.8m has been loaned in 2026 so far, plus £4.3m from Lebedev.
The accounts said a cash flow forecast covering the 12 months to October 2027 showed the company “will require additional funding in order to continue as a going concern” and “meet its liabilities as they fall due”.
Evening Standard Ltd had net liabilities of £3.6m at the end of 2025, up from £1.7m at the end of September 2024.
The accounts said, however, that Lebedev has provided a letter of support that “expresses willingness to provide continued support to the Company to allow it to meet its day-to-day working capital requirements under the restructured business plan. This support will be in the form of assistance with additional fundraising activities or through the provision of additional funding to the company. Whilst there is no formal funding facility in place, the directors are confident of the intention of Lord Evgeny Lebedev to provide this support.
“Although the directors have not been able to assess the ability of Lord Evgeny Lebedev to provide this support, they are confident that the ability exists due to his publicly known business interests and historical record of funding the company, including £4,300,000 of funding received post year end.”
The company directors’ payments doubled from £104,000 to £208,000.
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