Regional newspaper group, Johnston Press, has this morning warned of deterioration in the advertising market, due mainly, it claims, to uncertainties surrounding the recent general election and a downturn in recruitment advertising.
The company states that “more difficult” trading, paired with a downturn in Government recruitment in the run up to the general election had resulted in a dip in growth since the beginning of March.
Issuing a trading statement, the company predicted its actual gowth in advertising revenue to be 1.5% up year on year in the first 23 weeks of the year, although this is well below the 2.6% year on year increase previously reported by the publisher for the first two months of 2005.
The company’s finance director, Stuart Paterson, refused to give any predictions on full-year growth, signalling an increased concern by the company for this year’s outlook, given the company’s previous prediction of a 2.5% increase for the year.
“We’re really not making any forecasts. The markets have been softer this year and I think we’re actually looking pretty resilient,” he told reporters on a conference call this morning.
Johnston said that ad sales growth has been 1.4% higher year on year at the end of April, while May revenues had declined by a sizeable 4.7% due to the general election.
However, the election was not solely to blame for the downturn in recruitment advertising, with non-Government advertising in the sector also down by 6% year on year.
Johnston also reported circulation turnover to be “flat,” over the first 23 months of the year with no change on 2004. Other revenues were reported to have risen by 13%, thanks to “good progress” in the company’s online activities.
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