INM posts 2.7% drop in circulation revenue

Independent News & Media (INM) has reported a 2.7 per cent drop in circulation revenue for the year to date as the newspaper market in Ireland continues to contract.

In a trading update today, the company, which publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and The Herald, said total group revenue also declined by 2.2 per cent.

However, when the impact of the closure of the group's Northern Ireland free-sheet business is adjusted for, underlying total advertising revenues, print and online, increased by 0.4 per cent.

The group said total print advertising revenues were down by 3.4 per cent so far this year, compared to a decline of 2.7 per cent for the first six months.

Nonetheless, the media group said a number of newspaper advertising categories were posting strong growth, with property, recruitment and inserts showing the largest year-on-year revenue increases.

The company also noted that in recent weeks there has been a noticeable improvement in advertising conditions “compared with a more challenging revenue environment over the summer months”.

INM said its online business operations were continuing to grow, with revenues up 33 per cent year to date.

This was due mainly to continued strong growth in its digital operations, including Independent.ie and the daily deals website GrabOne.

The group said it had delivered a 2.9 per cent reduction in operating costs, despite a substantial investment in digital activities.

INM reduced its cost base by €26 million last year and is in the process of cutting it by a further €20 million as it seeks an appropriate cost structure for the transition towards digital media.

Its chairman Leslie Buckley signalled recently that this would involve “more aggressive” cost reductions over the next 12 months.

According to the latest figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Irish Independent’s circulation fell 7.2 per cent to 112,383 in the first half of this year, down 8,737 on an annual basis.

The number of actively purchased copies of the newspaper dropped below the 100,000 threshold to 98,300.

In its statement yesterday, the company said that so far this year trading trends have remained broadly unchanged.