Strong growth in online advertising failed to make up for falling print advertising at the Daily Mail and its associated titles in the first half of this year.
Half year results for parent company Daily Mail and General Trust show that DMG Media (which includes the Daily Mail, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and Metro) made revenue of £358m in the first six months of 2016 (down 4 per cent year on year). Operating profit fell 30 per cent to £39m in the period.
Overall revenue for the Dail Mail and Mail on Sunday fell £18m to £242m while Mail Online grew by £12m to £44m for the period.
Metro and its sister title in Dubai, 7 Days, reported half year revenue down £3m year on year to £36m.
Print advertising fell 13 per cent year on year by £18m in the first six months across DMG Media, with the rate of decline sharpening to 15 per cent in the second quarter.
Digital advertising was said to be up 23 per cent.
Circulation revenues fell 3 per cent year on year, reflecting the declining print circulations of the Mail titles.
Overall, DMGT reported half year revenue up 3 per cent year on year to £950m. Profit before tax fell 11 per cent to £129m.
Chief executive Martin Morgan retires at the end of this month after 27 years with the company and eight as chief executive. He is being repalced by Paul Zwillenberg.
He said: “DMGT’s performance in the first half was broadly in line with our expectations, other than the further deterioration in the UK print advertising market which impacted DMG Media’s results.
“Within our international B2B companies, revenue growth at RMS, DMG Information and DMG Events was partly offset by Euromoney, which continues to face challenging market conditions.
“Given the particularly weak print advertising market, DMG Media is now expected to deliver an operating margin of around 10 per cnet for the full year whilst the expectations for the B2B businesses remain in line with previous guidance.”
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