Desmond’s Porn Titles Go Up For Sale

Richard Desmond, the new owner of Express Newspapers, has put his stable of soft porn titles up for sale, according to reports. Offloading the 35 magazines, which include Asian Babes and Reader’s Wives, will raise cash of up to £20m to be poured back into the Express titles.

The move has been seen as an attempt to clean up the image of Desmond’s company, Northern & Shell, ahead of a planned stock market flotation. It will also help deflect criticism of his fitness to run a national newspaper.

Desmond’s takeover of the Express Newspaper group has been controversial from the start with numerous staff departures (see Appointments Brief) and the recent closure of the group’s websites (see Express Websites To Close). Today’s news confirms his commitment to the Daily and Sunday Express and the Daily Star.

It is believed a major revamp of the Express titles is in the pipeline, including increased page length and extra supplements to revive sales, which have been plummeting in recent years. The latest ABC report placed sales of the Daily Express and Sunday Express hovering around the 1m mark, compared to circulations of 1.6m each ten years ago. Rival mid-market titles the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday meanwhile, have both seen healthy increases to their circulation bases, rising from 1.7m and 2m respectively in 1989 to a healthy 2.3m each in the latest ABC report.

Express Newspapers: 020 7928 8000