Johnston Press sees signs of recovery after £300m loss

Ashley Highfield, chief executive of Johnston Press which also publishes the Scotsman among 200 local titles, said that growing concerns over the prevalence of fake news meant that newspapers were increasingly seen as a trusted source and therefore more appealing to advertisers.

In its full year results to the end of 2016, the company witnessed tumbling print advertising revenues and £344m of write downs on the value of its newspapers as it swung to a pre-tax loss of £300.3m.

But the group said there were shoots of a recovery, with underlying revenues rebounding from a 5 per cent fall in the third quarter to a 1 per cent rise in the final three months of last year.

Mr Highfield said he remained optimistic the firm could make a return to profit owing to the trusted pedigree the titles enjoyed.

“The issues with fake news are actually very positive for us if we can get our message across that we are the trusted voice for you to put your adverts on and we are the trusted guys producing news you can believe in. If we can get those messages out there then I think we have got a good chance of getting more traffic our way and more advertisers our way.”

Mr Highfield also said he felt the newspaper industry stood a chance of “taking the fight” to US giants Google and Facebook for online revenue.

“There has got to be an answer that works for Facebook and Google government can get behind. We have already won a battle with the BBC and done a deal. With Government support we can put some pressure on these firms and stand a reasonable chance of taking the fight to them and getting a result.

“Despite an industry-wide backdrop of significant downward pressure on revenues, the actions we have taken to pilot the business through this rapidly-changing market and create the conditions from which to create growth are starting to bear fruit.”

The figures laid bare a a tough year for publishers, with Johnston blaming the Brexit vote fallout for compounding already difficult trading.