DMGT revenue up despite ad spend decline
BRITISH newspaper group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) said yesterday that overall revenue for the quarter rose two per cent at £495m, boosted by reinforcement in its digital areas.
Although the company said its trading was broadly in line with expectations, it also said a decline in advertising revenues at its national titles accelerated to nine per cent, pushing its shares down by nearly four per cent yesterday.
Analysts attributed the share price drop to the stock’s recent strong run, while noting the weakness in January advertising.
“The economic outlook is very hard to read,” DMGT chief executive Martin Morgan said on a conference call yesterday.
Morgan also said the company would continue to invest in its digital businesses while cutting costs elsewhere, which was proven by the newspaper cutting down its staff by two per cent, but hiring more people for the fast-growing MailOnline.
The MailOnline revenues for the quarter were up 70 per cent higher than last year, but the website is not expected to be profitable this year.
Shares in DMGT closed down 3.91 per cent yesterday at 444.3p.