This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/11/independent-owner-considering-closing-national-print-titles

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Independent owner considering closing national print titles Independent owner considering closing national print titles
(about 4 hours later)
The owner of the Independent and Independent on Sunday is considering ceasing printing the 30 year old newspaper and moving the title online only. The owner of the Independent and Independent on Sunday is considering stopping printing the 30 year old newspaper and moving the title online only.
Evgeny Lebedev and his lieutenants have not yet made a final decision, but the economics of continuing to print the newspaper have become increasingly strained. Evgeny Lebedev and his lieutenants have not yet made a final decision, but the economics of continuing to print the newspaper have become increasingly strained as copy sales decline across the industry while ever more readers switch to digital.
It is widely expected that they will cease printing the 30-year old newspaper, leading to significant job losses. The likely decision has been prompted by Lebedev’s decision to sell the i, the cut-price national title which provides financial support to the Independent, to Johnston Press, the owner of the Scotsman, in a £25m cash deal.
The move has been prompted by Lebedev’s decision to sell the i, the cut-price national title which props up the Independent, to Johnston Press in a £25m cash deal. Assuming the sale of the i goes through, Lebedev is expected to seek to invest the proceeds into further developing the independent.co.uk website into an international digital news brand – while stopping printing the newspapers.
Assuming the sale goes through, Lebedev is expected to seek to invest the proceeds into further developing the independent.co.uk website into an international digital newsbrand – while ending the newspapers. Amol Rajan, the editor of the Independent, sent an email to staff acknowledging that there would be a “lot of questions and uncertainty”.
His father Alexander, who handed control of the media assets to his son, said he was not directly involved in negotiations over the i, but insisted that the Independent and Independent on Sunday both “had a future”. He offered the 150 full-time Independent and i staff, supported by casuals, little to assuage their fears of closure. “For the time being we really are bound by strict rules on what we can and can’t say about this potential deal,” he said. “I will obviously do all I can to keep everyone updated as soon as possible, within the guidelines of the law.” He then thanked staff for their “understanding”.
Launched in 1985 by a group of journalists led by Andreas Whittam Smith, the Independent enjoyed initial success claiming it was free from proprietorial influence. Early advertising featured the strapline “It is, are you?”, and later editors included Andrew Marr and Rosie Boycott. However, the newspaperfaced hurdles after Rupert Murdoch launched a cover price war in the early 1990s.
Charlie Burgess, sports editor of the Independent at launch and later home and managing editor, said: “It was fantastic that the Indy lasted this long. It could have been a disaster earlier.”
The title passed into the hands of the Lebedev family who bought it from Sir Anthony O’Reilly for £1 in 2010, but it has struggled in a declining market. The Independent’s paid circulation is 40,718 while its Sunday sister title sells 42,888 copies.
It is understood that Evgeny Lebedev has unsuccessfully been seeking a buyer for the Independent titles, as he and his father did in 2014, but talks with a potential Qatari suitor fell through.
The newspapers have required heavy investment in recent years: the Lebedevs have pumped more than £111m into their British media assets up until the end of September 2014, £65m of that is thought to have been on the Independent titles.
Evgeny’s father Alexander, who has handed control of the media assets to his son, said he was not directly involved in negotiations over the i, but insisted that the Independent and Independent on Sunday both “had a future”.
He said reports that they might close were “guessing” and added there “could be different options” out there for the struggling titles. “If someone is interested there is a market. This is a capitalist economy,” he told the Guardian.He said reports that they might close were “guessing” and added there “could be different options” out there for the struggling titles. “If someone is interested there is a market. This is a capitalist economy,” he told the Guardian.
Alexander Lebedev was bullish about the Independent’s prospects. Asked if it could continue, he said: “I think so. It has a future. Believe me.”Alexander Lebedev was bullish about the Independent’s prospects. Asked if it could continue, he said: “I think so. It has a future. Believe me.”
It is understood that Evgeny Lebedev has been seeking a buyer for the Independent titles, as he and his father did in 2014, but talks with a potential Qatari suitor fell through. The launch of the i in 2010 was a strategic move that provided something of a lifeline for the more expensive Independent titles. The cut price national, launched price at 20p, was once described by a former chief executive as a vital “rubber ring” and had been intended to make the Indy titles sustainable long term.
Evgeny is expected to retain ownership of the Evening Standard, which is 25% owned by Daily Mail publisher DMGT, and the TV station London Live. It has a circulation of a little over 200,000 paid copies, and if sold will have its pages filled with help of Johnston Press titles such as the Yorkshire Post as well as the Scotsman.
As the news of the deal and potential closure broke Amol Rajan, the editor of the Independent, sent an email to staff acknowledging that there would be a “lot of questions and uncertainty”. A combination of the i, Independent and Independent on Sunday had been at almost break-even point. Heavy cost-cutting has seen staff on the flagship national titles. The last publicly available figures, for the year to September 2014, show a trading loss of £4.6m. When the Lebedevs acquired the Independent and Independent on Sunday in 2010 losses were running at £22.6m.
He offered the 150 full-time Indy and i staff, supported by casuals, little to assuage their fears of closure. Alex DeGroote, an analyst at Peel Hunt with a bearish view of Johnston Press’s future, said he was “confused” by the rationale for the proposed deal.
“For the time being we really are bound by strict rules on what we can and can’t say about this potential deal,” he said. “I will obviously do all I can to keep everyone updated as soon as possible, within the guidelines of the law.” “We are in favour of print industry consolidation,” he said. “However, we are confused by Johnston Press’s business strategy as a regional publisher, which has focused on paring back print, in favour of digital.”
He then thanked staff for their “understanding”. Johnston Press said that in the year to the end of September 2015, the i had an “unaudited carve-out” operating profit of £5.2m. The figure is the first time an independent assessment of the profitability of the i, which was launched in 2010, has been made public.
Johnston Press will need to gain shareholder approval for the deal, which is expected to be announced within days, and at least 20, maybe as many as 40, i staff will go with it. It had widely been considered almost impossible to unpick the operation of the i from the Independent and Independent on Sunday, due to huge editorial and commercial codependency and shared resource between the titles.
The company will also licence content from the Independent and the Evening Standard. Interestingly, the website is held in a separate company to the Independent print titles, which means it is ringfenced from the impact of any decision to close the titles. The company that controls the website has just two directors, Evgeny Lebedev and his associate Justin Byam Shaw.
The media group’s lease on office space in Derry Street, London, runs out next year and Evgeny is already scouting out alternate locations. Arguably the newspapers’ most valuable asset, it has 2.8m daily unique browsers and 58m monthly uniques, making it a relative minnow in comparison to some of its rivals.
Sales figures show how difficult it has become for the Independent and Independent on Sunday. The Independent’s official paid circulation is just 40,718, boosted by 15,356 free or discounted bulk copies. Lebedev is understood to remain committed to the Evening Standard, which makes about £2m in profits. He is also continuing to back London Live, the local TV channel for the capital, which reported a loss of £6m in the year to the end of September.
The Independent on Sunday sells on average 42,888 copies, with its circulation more than doubled with another 49,861 bulks.
It is understood that a combination of the i, Independent and Independent on Sunday is at almost break even point.
Heavy cost-cutting has seen staff on the flagship national titles reduced to just 150 full-time employees, boosted by a casual workforce.
The last publicly available figures, for the year to September 2014, show a trading loss of £4.6m.
When the Lebedevs acquired the Independent and Independent on Sunday in 2010 losses were running at £22.6m.
Alexander Lebedev said the financial woes of his newspaper group had been exaggerated.
“We are not pressed on anything really,” he said. “TV [London Live] promises to break even over the next six months. The Indy was doing quite well in recent months. There is no pressure, as far as I know. The market can be volatile but I haven’t seen anything bad in half a year.”
He went on: “I think the Independent has a future. The British nation should not be frustrated.”
The Lebedevs have pumped more than £111m into their UK media assets up until the end of September 2014, £65m of that is thought to have been on the Independent titles.
The launch of the i in 2010 was a clever strategic move that provided something of a lifeline for the Independent titles.
The cut price national, which has doubled in price to 40p since launch, was described by a former chief executive as a vital “rubber ring” to make the Indy titles sustainable long term.
Lebedev is aiming to invest the £25m proceeds from the sale of the i into beefing up the Independent website.
Interestingly, the website is held in a separate company to the Indy print titles, which means it is ring-fenced from the impact of any decision to close the titles.
Arguably the newspapers’ most valuable asset, it has 2.8 million daily unique browsers and 58 million monthly uniques, making it a relative minnow in comparison to some of its rivals.
The company that controls the website has just two directors, Evgeny Lebedev and Justin Byam Shaw.
Lebedev is understood to remain committed to the Evening Standard, which makes about £2m in profits.
He is also continuing to back London Live, the local TV channel for the capital, which reported a loss of £6m in the year to the end of September.
The channel, which has gone through a major restructuring and content strategy shift, is now targeting break even in 2017.
Johnston Press, which has 220 local and regional titles, believes that owning the i will help it attract a greater share of national advertising and create the UK’s fourth largest print publisher with over 600,000 sales per day.Johnston Press, which has 220 local and regional titles, believes that owning the i will help it attract a greater share of national advertising and create the UK’s fourth largest print publisher with over 600,000 sales per day.
The i has a circulation of 268,431, although 67,752 of those are bulk copies. News of the deal comes weeks after chief executive Ashley Highfield, the former senior BBC and Microsoft executive, announced sweeping plans to sell less desirable titles to focus on the group’s “gems”.
The regional newspaper publisher said that in the year to the end of September 2015, the i had an “unaudited carve-out” operating profit of £5.2m.
The figure is the first time an independent assessment of the profitability of the i, which was launched in 2010, has been made public.
It has widely been considered almost impossible to unpick the operation of the i from the Independent and Independent on Sunday, due to huge editorial and commercial co-dependency and shared resource between the titles.
News of the deal comes weeks after chief executive Ashley Highfield, the former senior BBC and Microsoft executive, announced sweeping plans to sell-off swathes of less desirable titles to focus on the group’s “gems”.
While titles such as the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post have a future, those that don’t fit certain criteria, such as titles that serve wealthier readers with “more disposable income”, are to be offered for sale to rivals.While titles such as the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post have a future, those that don’t fit certain criteria, such as titles that serve wealthier readers with “more disposable income”, are to be offered for sale to rivals.
Johnston Press has been in a financially difficult situation since the downturn. When Highfield joined in 2011 the company was struggling with a debt burden of almost £400m. It has since reduced this to £180m, on profits of £56m and revenues of £247m.Johnston Press has been in a financially difficult situation since the downturn. When Highfield joined in 2011 the company was struggling with a debt burden of almost £400m. It has since reduced this to £180m, on profits of £56m and revenues of £247m.
Alex DeGroote, an analyst at Peel Hunt with a bearish view of Johnston Press’s future, said he was “confused” by the rationale for the proposed deal.
“We are in favour of print industry consolidation,” he said. “However, we are confused by Johnston Press’s business strategy as a regional publisher, which has focused on paring back print, in favour of digital.”