Daily Mail publisher records operating profit drop of £13m

Operating profit for Associated Newspapers fell by £13 million in the past year, according to figures released by the Daily Mail & General Trust today, which the company linked to decreases in revenues and rising printing costs.

The results given for the year ending 2 October, show that Associated Newspapers' operating profit fell from a "restated" figure of £89 million in 2010 to £76 million in 2011.

Overall the DMGT group also recorded a drop in its operating profit of 5 per cent based on its adjusted results, which fell from £300 million in 2010 to £286 million in 2011.

The same results show a pre-tax profit for DMGT of £237 million for 2011, which represents a 3 per cent rise on 2010.

Within its newspaper business in the UK, which includes the Daily Mail and Metro, underlying circulation revenues dropped 2 per cent, which the company said was "due in part to the temporary price discounting by the Mail on Sunday", implemented after the News of the World closure earlier this year.

Today's report also gave individual newspaper results, with the Daily Mail's circulation revenues said to have fallen 0.8 per cent and the Mail on Sunday dropping by 5.7 per cent.

In comparison the Daily Mail website, Mail Online, "had another strong year of growth", the report added, claiming a 65 per cent revenue increase. According to the latest figures for UK national newspaper websites from the Audit Bureau of Circulation the Mail Online recorded a monthly traffic figure of 67,606,156 unique browsers in September.

"Notwithstanding the challenging trading conditions, the underlying revenues of Associated Newspapers were unchanged," chief executive Martin Morgan added in the report.

"Furthermore, Mail Online is now a global name in news and on course to become the world's biggest English language newspaper website. Whilst first quarter trading to date has been reasonable, we remain cautious about the medium term outlook, given continuing external uncertainties, particularly for UK advertising.

"Our strategy remains focused on innovation-led growth, talent development and improved operating effectiveness. We are a more focused and financially stronger group today, which makes us confident that we can make real progress in 2012."

DMGT's regional business Northcliffe Media saw its revenues fall by 10 per cent in a year which saw total headcount cut by 602 people, and the report says that "the first quarter and outlook for the year as a whole are not expected to improve on this trend".

The division's operating profit also fell by 37 per cent, from £27 million in 2010 to £17 million this year, which the company said was "in line with our expectations".

"Northcliffe is now focused on building new revenue opportunities from its print and digital products," the report adds.

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