Associated Newspapers has seen display advertising revenues rise by a solid 8.5% year on year in the eleven months to August following a strong performance from its daily freesheet Metro and London evening paper the Evening Standard.
Metro saw display advertising revenue rise by 25% year on year following the launch of two new franchises in the East Midlands and the West, which helped overall certified distribution to increase by 8% to an average of 947,000.
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard recorded a strong 11% increase during the same period, despite seeing circulation decline by 8% in year on year analysis, the Daily Mail & General Trust revealed in a trading update this morning.
The Daily Mail and the Mail On Sunday put in a slightly less impressive performance, with display revenues rising by 13% and 6% respectively in the eleven months to August. Both titles continue to outperform a declining national newspaper market, despite seeing circulation dip year on year.
DMGT’s regional newspaper division, Northcliffe Newspapers, continues to perform well with advertising revenues rising by 5.8% year on year following strong performances from recruitment and property. Circulation revenues were up by 2%, despite ABC figures for the six months to June 2004 showing a 1.9% decline for the morning titles and 4.2% for the evening titles.
At DMG Broadcasting, Teletext saw its fortunes improve in the second half of the year and revenues for 2004 as a whole are now expected to be at a similar level to last year. However, the launch costs and early stage losses of Teletext Holidays TV and of the new digital Channel 4 services will result in operating profit around 15% lower than last year.
DMG Radio continues to see strong growth in revenues from its Sydney, Melbourne and Perth stations, which are up by 30% year on year. The regional stations are also performing strongly and full year revenue is expected to be almost double that of 2003.
Overall, DMGT expects to report a good trading performance for the full year in line with market expectations as a result of a continued improved contribution from its newer businesses and organic growth from all divisions. DMGT will announce its preliminary results for the year to 3 October 2004 on 2 December.
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