Telegraph Media Group reported 4% revenue growth to £254.4m in the year ended December 2022, driven by improvement in digital subscriptions.
The Telegraph publisher also grew its profits by 32% in 2022 to £39m.
The revenue and audience growth comes as TMG is currently up for sale after lender Lloyds Banking Group placed B.UK, a Barclay-owned holding company containing the publisher, into receivership with consultancy AlixPartners in June.
The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph publisher grew subscriptions 2% to 734,000, with average revenues of each subscriber across print and digital totalling £175.
The March acquisition of Chelsea Magazine Company, which owns various lifestyle titles, further improved TMG’s total subscribers to 974,000 by the end of June this year. The company is now “firmly on track” to hit 1 million subscribers by the end of the year, according to CEO Nick Hugh.
Analysis: Driving up the sale price?
Newspapers of record very rarely come up for sale, especially ones with robust and growing audiences. As such, even before the latest figures it was plausible Telegraph Media Group could fetch a pretty penny especially if multiple parties enter into a bidding war. The rumoured price tag is expected to reach at least £600m.
But the continued improvement in subscription numbers and revenue should only further drive up the price.
Since news of the Telegraph‘s sale broke last month, speculation has been rife as to who could buy the historic paper, and how new ownership could change its historically conservative editorial slant.
Potential buyers include the Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail and General Trust and Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, though both would likely face regulatory scrutiny. GB News investor Sir Paul Marshall and other foreign investors with deep pockets may also throw their hats in the ring.
Telegraph and Spectator’s auction unlikely to change its stance
