Good Q3 for Daily Mail, General Trust

Published Jul 25, 2012

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LONDON - British media group Daily Mail and General Trust said quarterly revenues rose 4 percent in what it called an encouraging performance as its flagship newspaper business returned to growth and gained market share.

The group, which prints the Daily Mail and a string of regional titles, on Wednesday posted revenues of 509 million pounds ($790 million) in the three months to July 1, up 4 percent from last year on an underlying basis.

Revenues from its Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday units grew 4 percent as more newspapers were sold, reversing a decline in the second quarter, and helped by a strong advertising sales linked to the newspaper's website, it said.

The Daily Mail's website, one of the most popular websites in the world, posted a 69 percent jump in quarterly underlying advertising sales compared to the year earlier period.

The company said its outlook for the year was unchanged, having forecast that full-year earnings would grow, when it reported interim results in May.

The company's business-to-business publishing unit posted revenue growth of 7 percent, while its events division saw sales soar 22 percent after a robust showing at its Global Petroleum Show.

The outlook at financial publisher Euromoney, in which Daily Mail & General owns a 68 percent, was less rosy, with the company flagging that weaker markets could impact its fourth quarter results.

Shares in Daily Mail & General Trust, which in June dropped out of Britain's FTSE 250 mid-cap index due to a technicality connected to the classification of its shares, closed at 432.5 pence on Tuesday, valuing the company at 1.7 billion pounds. - Reuters

($1 = 0.6441 British pounds)

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