Digital revenue dives for Mirror and Express publisher Reach
Digital revenue was down 13.7 per cent for the owner of the Daily Mirror and OK! magazine, Reach, in its third quarter, as the group grapples with tepid advertiser demand.
The publisher said the slide in digital was due to depressed open market yields and declining digital referral volumes, especially as Facebook de-prioritises news.
Over the nine months since January, this led to a 21 per cent year-on-year fall in page views.
In print, advertising revenue fell nearly nine per cent, while circulation fell 3.3 per cent.
This year, UK ad revenue from both digital and print newspapers is expected to reach £1.2bn, compared to £33.6bn worth of ad revenue from the internet, according to Group M, WPP’s media investment business.
Reach said its full year profit expectations remain the same.
Chief Jim Mullen said: “This quarter we see continued evidence that our data driven strategy is working, supported by our resilient print business. Through this challenging period we have remained focused on the controllables.
“We are delivering our Customer Value Strategy and have made progress diversifying our audience. We continue to review our cost base so that we can accelerate our digital transformation,” he added.
Pending approval of shareholders, Reach will soon propose a capital reduction of over £605m, to create “additional distributable reserves”
Shares in the company jolted up over two per cent on Tuesday morning at market open.