31st Aug 2018 09:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - Publishing firm Independent News & Media PLC said Friday its interim profit halved amid cost rises and a fall in revenue as it continues to restructure the group.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit halved to EUR9.0 million from EUR17.5 million the year prior. This was after revenue slipped to EUR95.0 million from EUR99.0 million the year before. Independent News said digital revenue declined 2.9% on year amid "pressures arising from Google and Facebook in the market".
Profit performance was also hurt by exceptional costs in the period. One-off charges primarily related to legal and restructuring costs led to a EUR2.5 million drag on profit. The year prior, one-off effects related to restructuring had led to a EUR2.6 million gain.
Underlying pretax profit - excluding one-off costs - fell to EUR11.5 million from EUR14.9 million the year prior.
Independent News & Media - which publishes newspaper including the Irish Independent, the Evening Herald, and the Sunday World - does not pay an interim dividend.
"Despite the challenges facing INM, the group generated a profit before tax of EUR11.5 million during the period in line with expectations, while our full year forecast remains unchanged," Chairman Murdoch MacLennan said. "The group's new strategy is also making progress and a new Senior Executive Team has been put in place to support our CEO, Michael Doorly, as he leads its implementation. Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to explore new avenues to develop profitable revenue streams to support our core business."
Shares in Independent News & Media were 3.0% lower at EUR0.080 on Friday.
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