Times Newspapers reports £51 million loss

Times Newspapers has reported a loss of £51.3 million for the year ending June 30 2008, compared with a loss of £43.9 million for the previous year.

The publisher’s losses reportedly came from a rise in the cost of newsprint, a one-off charge associated with moving the print-run from Wapping to Broxbourne and redundancy costs.

The group’s revenue was down by 0.5% to £444.9 million for the year.

The figures for Times Newspapers, publisher of The Times and the Sunday Times, cover the period before the economic downturn kicked-in, however, declining advertising revenues did have an impact on the group’s results.

Its sister company News Group Newspapers, which houses the Sun and the News of the World, saw profits fall from £61.8 million to £55.1 million in the same period.

However, News Group Newspapers revenue was up 0.5% to £626 million.

Both publishing groups come under the News International umbrella, a division of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation company.