Guardian Media Group Posts Good Figures In Weak Markets

The group said that advertising revenues were up by 4.1% to £254.9 million, whilst circulation revenues rose by 6.2% to £81.7 million. The advertising performance is better than the overall market, which rose by just 1.9% year on year for the twelve months to March, according to Advertising Association (AA) figures.

The AA data also show that the press sector saw advertising revenues decline by 2.4% during the whole of 2002, with a further 1.2% drop in the first quarter of this year. Against this backdrop, GMG’s title have performed strongly.

Pre-tax profits at the company rose from last year’s £9.8 million to £36.9 million this time and turnover was up by 15.2% to £526 million. The group says it remains in a strong financial position, with net funds of £161.4 million.

Chairman Paul Myners said that both the Guardian and Observer had achieved editorial and financial success in a period marked by economic uncertainty and the continuation of the UK advertising downturn.

According to ABC circulation figures, sales of both newspapers have remained, on average, essentially flat over the last eighteen months, as shown below.

The GMG annual report also says that its regional newspapers continued to be resilient in the weak conditions.

The company’s radio division was expanded during the course of the year, with the successful £45 million buy-out of Jazz FM in June last year (see Jazz FM Agrees To £44.5m Takeover By Guardian Media).

The new media division, which produces the Guardian Unlimited network of websites, saw operating losses halve, down from £32.2 million to £17.6 million.