Consumer media revenue down a third in April at Daily Mail owner

Daily Mail owner DMGT said the coronavirus pandemic caused revenue at its consumer media business to fall by a third in April and by an estimated 30 per cent in May as the company reported flat revenue for its first half.

The company said, however, that despite the fall in advertising and a drop in circulation caused by the lockdown in Britain, the unit would be close to breaking even this month, demonstrating the strength of its titles and MailOnline website.

Its events and exhibition and property information businesses were also hit by the health crisis, it said, with all events cancelled from March to August and both commercial and residential property transactions slowing sharply.

Resilient

Chief executive Paul Zwillenberg said the group's Insurance Risk, US Property Information and EdTech businesses were resilient, with underlying revenue growing 5 per cent in April when the pandemic was at its peak in Europe.

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“All of our businesses are market leading and I am highly confident that they will come out of this global crisis stronger and fitter,” he said on Thursday.

DMGT reported underlying pretax profit of £56 million (€62.3 million) for the six months to end-March on flat revenue of £690 million (€768 million).

It increased its half-year dividend by 3 per cent to 7.5 pence, which it said reflected the strength of its trading performance in the period.

DMGT’s shares were trading down 4 per cent in early deals at 712 pence.

– Reuters