Publisher Daily Mail and General Trust warned on Thursday that increased pressure on advertising at commuter-focussed paper Metro and a lack of corporate events had weighed on both sales and profits in the twelve months ended 30 September.
DMGT said underlying revenues declined 1% in the year to £1.1bn, with a solid performance by its tabloid news outlet MailOnline lessening the impact of Metro’s poor showing and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on events, with digital advertising making up around two-thirds of total advertising revenues across the group.
The London-listed group swung from a statutory pre-tax profit of £33.7m in 2020, when the company made gains on disposals, to a £2.0m pre-tax loss in 2021.
DMGT also reported an operating loss of £6.0m, double last year’s £3.0m loss, reflecting a £5.0m increase in net finance costs to £15.6m due to lower interest rates reducing interest income, while adjusted pre-tax profits of £88.0m represented an underlying growth of 7%.
Looking forward, DMGT said its financial performance in 2022 would be “adversely affected” by the impact of disposals, although some recovery in revenues was expected from its events and exhibitions and consumer media businesses, although the group noted the extent of which remained “uncertain”.
DMGT chose not to provide profit forecasts or guidance.
As of 0955 GMT, DMGT shares were down 0.36% at 1,114.0p.
