DMGT releases financial results for Q4 2009

Associated Newspapers’ revenues were down 12% year in year in Q4 2009 to £280 million.

The drop is thought to be linked to the closure of the publisher’s freesheet the London Lite in mid-November.

Taking that into consideration and excluding the Lite and Associated’s minority share in the Evening Standard, the group’s revenues suffered a 6% year on year decline.

Associated’s financial results show that the group witnessed an 11% decrease in ad revenues, as well as a 8% revenue decline from the group’s newspaper and websites operations, which include the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the Metro.

In a trading statement released earlier today, Associated’s parent company the Daily Mail & General Trust, remained positive about the current quarter.

“Trading in January has shown a marked improvement on last year, with advertising revenue up year on year in the newspapers and their online ‘companion’ sites, although, as usual, visibility on future advertising performance is very limited.”

DMGT’s regional newspaper business Northcliffe also reported revenue decreases for the three months to the end of 2009.

Total revenues at Northcliffe fell by 15% in Q4 to £73 million, with ad revenues dropping 13% year on year and circulation revenues down 8%.

Overall, DGMT’s quarterly revenues fell by 15% to £482 million, with revenues from its B2B operations down 20%, although adjusted operating profits were higher.

DGMT’s share price dropped by 0.9% to 438.6p in early trading this morning.