Telegraph boosts profit as subscriber numbers hit fresh high
The Telegraph has reported a sharp rise in profit for the year after its ongoing shift to a subscription model helped drive subscriber numbers to a record high.
Telegraph Media Group (TMG), which publishes the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph website, pulled in operating profit before exceptional items of £14.3m last year.
This was up from £8.3m the previous year as the media group boosted digital subscriptions and slashed costs.
TMG said total subscriber numbers hit 522,000 at 8 September, marking 23 per cent growth in the year to date and a new record high.
Under chief executive Nick Hugh the newspaper has laid out a three-year turnaround plan as it refocuses on its digital offering and looks to convert readers into paying subscribers.
Hugh said the company remained on track to hit its target of reaching 10m registered readers and 1m subscribers by 2023.
TMG hailed a resilient performance in the face of the coronavirus crisis, which has sparked a crisis for many newspapers amid declining footfall and a collapse in ad spend.
In April the paper placed dozens of staff members on furlough, with boss Hugh warning of cashflow difficulties as subscription payments lagged behind the immediate impact of lost advertising revenue.
But TMG today said it has repaid all the money it received under the government’s job retention scheme, adding that it had not needed to access loan schemes.
Last year it emerged billionaire owners Sir David and Frederick Barclay were exploring a sale of the Telegraph as they looked to break up their empire.
A number of high-profile figures, including veteran newspaper executive David Montgomery, have been linked to a potential purchase, but a deal is yet to emerge.
The Telegraph warned it expected conditions to remain challenging for the rest of the year, with its travel and events divisions hardest hit by the pandemic.
But the company said it expected profit for 2020 to be broadly in line with the previous year, despite “significant deterioration” in the advertising and commerce markets.
“2019 represented another successful year for TMG, as we continued our transformation to a subscription first business,” said boss Hugh.
“Our substantial and consistent subscription growth has continued into 2020, with the important milestone of 500,000 subscribers surpassed in May 2020.
“With average revenue per subscriber also continuing to increase in line with our plan, we remain on track to deliver a sustainable and profitable business model.”