The Independent claims $1bn valuation as it hails ‘unicorn’ status
The Independent today posted its third consecutive year of profit thanks to a successful shift to digital, prompting its chairman to hail its “unicorn” status.
The newspaper’s turnover grew nine per cent to £27m in the last financial year, while advertising revenue grew 10 per cent.
Operating profit for the year was £2.3m, down from £3m in the previous 12 months, which the firm blamed on higher costs due to the expansion of its editorial team.
John Paton, chairman of parent company Independent Digital News and Media, said: “In Silicon Valley speak it is truly a unicorn.”
Unicorn is a title given to privately owned companies with a valuation of at least $1bn (£775m). Russian billionaire Evgeny Lebedev bought the Independent and Independent on Sunday for £1 in 2010.
The figures come four years after the Independent shut down its print edition to become a digital-only platform. The company said its revenue had almost doubled since the move, while its global audience has risen to 95m unique browsers.
The Independent has now emerged as the largest quality digital news brand in the UK, ahead of the Guardian, Times and Telegraph.
Its profit has also pulled ahead of the Telegraph, which suffered a 94 per cent in per-tax profit to just £900,000 in 2018.
“Few, if any, serious, quality newspapers in the world have successfully made the transformation from print to digital only,” Paton said in a statement.
“The Independent has been profitable since going all-digital and nearly four years in it continues to grow substantially on the top line.”
The positive trading comes in stark contrast to the fortunes of the Evening Standard, which is also owned by media mogul Lebedev.
Its most recent accounts showed the London daily newspaper posted a pre-tax loss of £11.6m in 2018 on revenue of £65m.
The Standard, which is edited by former chancellor George Osborne, has carried out a string of job cuts following the decision to merge its print and online titles.
The government last year opened a probe into Saudi investments in Lebedev’s two newspaper titles amid concerns about the impact on freedom of expression. However, a full investigation was blocked after ministers missed a key deadline.