Government cuts hit Johnston Press
Johnston Press, publisher of the Yorkshire Post, said the economic outlook for 2011 remained uncertain after government spending cuts knocked its advertising sales at a sharper rate than in 2010.
The group said total advertising for the first nine weeks of 2011 fell 11.4 per cent compared with a drop of 6.4 per cent for the whole of 2010. “The pace and consistency of the economic recovery remains uncertain and this is reflected in a weaker start to 2011 than we had anticipated,” chairman Ian Russell said.
The weak start to 2011 took the shine off otherwise improved full-year results for the group. It posted its first underlying operating profit increase, excluding acquisitions, since 2004 after taking out costs and boosting digital advertising revenues.
The group also said it would start looking for a new chief executive after John Fry said he would step down by March 2012.