Regional newspaper and magazine publisher Archant saw its profits disappear in the first six months of the year, as the newspaper industry struggles to adjust to the loss of print revenue streams, but its digital revenues were up 18.9 percent year on year. For the 26 weeks to June 27, the company made a loss of £238,000, compared to a £3.61 million profit in H108, and revenues 24.4 percent lower at £70.8 million. Operating profits were £5 million, down from £13 million in H108, after Archant paid out £2 million in restructuring charges due to closing local newspaper offices and laying off staff.
— Print collapse, digital growth: Ad revenue across the business fell 29.5 percent year on year; both recruitment and property ad revenues were down by almost half year on year. But digital online ad sales were up and Archant’s magazine website revenue alone rose 65.1 percent, albeit “from a low starting point”. Overall traffic to Archant’s portfolio of sites — including EDP24 and scores of sites covering the South East and East Anglia — increased 48.6 percent to 2.4 million unique users a month, which still sounds low given the company’s breadth.
— Cost-cut drive: Chairman Richard Jewson says that Archant has cut cost and has been “seeking new ways to develop our digital business”: operating costs shrank by £14.8 million thanks to redundancies and print cutbacks. In the year to June, the company cuts its headcount by 18.7 percent and no staff will get an annual pay increase in 2009. Archant’s online classifieds business Homes24 saw its traffic rise 310 percent while Jobs 24 saw a 84 percent rise.
— Debt deadline: The company is privately owned, but still has shareholders and the EPS they get for the period drops 55.2 percent to 26.5p, while an interim dividend is halved at 6.4p. Debt is an issue: the company owes £34.7 million in net debt and its £55 million revolving facility with RBS expires in December, though Jewson adds that advisors have been appointed and the board expects a “satisfactory outcome”.

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