Pre-tax profits at GMG totalled £9.8 million in the first three months of 2002, down from £67 million for the same period last year. This has been attributed to falling advertising revenues and a £33 million investment in the internet. Revenues were up by 4% to £456 million.
While acknowledging that it has been a trying year for the advertising industry, Bob Phillis, chief executive of GMG, is confident that revenues will increase in the final quarter of 2002.
“Whilst we do not anticipate any significant upturn in the levels of advertising demand until the second half of the financial year, the start to the new year has been encouraging,” he told the MediaGuardian website.
Phillis revealed that GMG subsidiaries including Trader Media and the regional newspaper division had shown a growth in profits and online recruitment revenues at Guardian Unlimited were up by 20% year on year.
