Revenue at Northcliffe fell 8 per cent ahead of Local World sell-off

Northcliffe Media saw its revenues fall 8 per cent fall to £49m in the three months before its sell-off to the new Local World joint venture.

Figures released by former parent company Daily Mail & General Trust, which retains a 39 per cent stake in Local World, show group revenues during the three months to 30 December were up 2 per cent to £503m.

Revenue on the national newspaper arm Associated Newspapers, which has been rebranded to DMG Media, was down 7 per cent to £204m, with a 4 per cent fall in ad income and 6 per cent drop in circulation revenue.

The results come in the week that the cover price of the Monday-Friday Daily Mail rose from 55p-60p (the price of the Saturday edition remains unchanged).

Overall DMGT staff numbers were reduced by 123 (or 13 per cent) to 3,719 during the period.

Northcliffe saw a 9 per cent drop in ad revenue and a 4 per cent fall in circulation revenue. The newspaper website division (mainly Mail Online) reported a 51 per cent surge in revenue with digital advertising up 8 per cent.

Explaining the name change in an interim management statement released this morning, DMGT said: “The profile of DMGT's consumer businesses has changed significantly in recent years.

“To reflect the diverse revenue streams and business models within the portfolio, we have renamed our consumer group "DMG Media".

The sale of Northcliffe Media and Iliffe News & Media to the new joint venture Local World was confirmed in November and the new business went live last month. .

Yattendon, owners of Iliffe, has a 21 per cent shareholding in Local World, the second largest shareholder behind Northcliffe owners DMGT, which received £52.5m cash and a 39 per cent stake in the company.

Regional rival Trinity Mirror acquired a 20 per cent stake in the company for £14.2m, with the remaining shares purchased by investors including Artefact Group (a company associated with Lord Ashcroft) and Odey Asset Management.