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| Shares in Daily Mirror owner Reach rise as it says it will beat profit forecasts | Shares in Daily Mirror owner Reach rise as it says it will beat profit forecasts |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Publisher was helped by strong digital advertising performance towards end of year, say analysts | Publisher was helped by strong digital advertising performance towards end of year, say analysts |
| Shares in the owner of the Daily Mirror rose more than a quarter after the publisher said it expects to beat annual profit expectations, after a strong end to the year and the benefit of deep cost-cutting in recent years. | Shares in the owner of the Daily Mirror rose more than a quarter after the publisher said it expects to beat annual profit expectations, after a strong end to the year and the benefit of deep cost-cutting in recent years. |
| Reach, which owns national papers including the Mirror and Express and scores of local titles including the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo, said the profit upgrade was because of a strong final quarter last year. | Reach, which owns national papers including the Mirror and Express and scores of local titles including the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo, said the profit upgrade was because of a strong final quarter last year. |
| The company, which two years ago slashed almost 800 roles in the biggest cutting of jobs in the newspaper industry in decades, said it expects to beat analysts’ forecasts of £97.4m in adjusted operating profit for 2024. | The company, which two years ago slashed almost 800 roles in the biggest cutting of jobs in the newspaper industry in decades, said it expects to beat analysts’ forecasts of £97.4m in adjusted operating profit for 2024. |
| Shares in Reach soared 26% on Monday, and the company’s share price is up 41% over the past 12 months. | Shares in Reach soared 26% on Monday, and the company’s share price is up 41% over the past 12 months. |
| After the large-scale cuts, Jim Mullen, the chief executive of Reach, had promised no more job losses but made more cuts late last year. Mullen hopes to implement “a single-team approach” across several titles, with integrated seven-day print and digital operations. | |
| Mullen faced a heated online reaction from staff to the job cuts in 2023. One staff member posted that the “redundancies left my mental health in pieces”. | |
| Reach said it ended last year with an increased headcount, having made at least 60 editorial hires. | |
| A string of high-profile editorial executives have left during the rounds of restructuring, including the Daily Mirror editor, Alison Phillips, and the group editor-in-chief, Lloyd Embley. | |
| The editors of the Daily and Sunday Express, Gary Jones and David Wooding respectively, have also left the company. | The editors of the Daily and Sunday Express, Gary Jones and David Wooding respectively, have also left the company. |
| The investment bank Panmure Liberum said Reach, which reported a profit of £96.5m in 2023, probably benefited from strong digital revenues in the run-up to Christmas and the impact of its cost-cutting strategy. | The investment bank Panmure Liberum said Reach, which reported a profit of £96.5m in 2023, probably benefited from strong digital revenues in the run-up to Christmas and the impact of its cost-cutting strategy. |
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| “Given the health of the digital advertising market particularly around peak period centred on Black Friday, we expect the digital business to have outperformed,” said Johnathan Barrett, a research analyst at Panmure Liberum. | “Given the health of the digital advertising market particularly around peak period centred on Black Friday, we expect the digital business to have outperformed,” said Johnathan Barrett, a research analyst at Panmure Liberum. |
| “We also expect that, given previous indications on how well the cost programme has been performing, that the company has also exceeded its target, amplifying revenue outperformance.” | “We also expect that, given previous indications on how well the cost programme has been performing, that the company has also exceeded its target, amplifying revenue outperformance.” |
| Panmure Liberum has raised its forecast for Reach’s profit before tax to £98.1m for 2024, and earnings before interest and tax to £101.8m, although it expects annual profits to decline this year. |