Daily Mail Group Reports Increased Ad Revenue But Rising Investment Costs

Daily Mail and General Trust has released a trading statement ahead of the group’s year end in October. In it, investors were advised that while advertising revenues have increased, investment in new business will see an estimated £70m charged against profits in the full year.

Ad revenues for Associated’s paid-for titles are reported to have increased 12% year on year for the five months to August, while Northcliffe titles have seen an 8% increase during the same period. Progress was also reported for the Metro titles, for which franchise arrangements for Birmingham and Newcastle are now in place. Circulation is now approaching 800,000 copies, although this is one area of investment which will contribute to the figure charged against profit.

The group says that profits from joint ventures and associates will fall in the second half of the year following the purchase of the balance of Bristol United Press and the end of January this year (see Daily Mail Gets Go Ahead On BUP Bid), while contributions from GWR and ITN will be offset by losses due to the Group’s interest in Zoom and Fish4.

The cost of acquisitions for the second half of the year is so far around £115m, of which a large amount (£60m) is due to the purchase of the Sydney FM radio licence.

Daily Mail and General Trust expects to announce its preliminary results on 14 December this year. This lunchtime shares in the group were around £10.16½, up from their opening price of £10.05 (see Sharewatch).

Daily Mail & General Trust: 020 7938 6000