Business

IN&M revenues fell in 2013

REVENUES at Belfast Telegraph parent company Independent News & Media fell by 6.6 per cent to just over e 322m (£270m) during what the publisher described as "a defining last year".

The Dublin-headquartered international newspaper and media group - which also owns The Sunday Life and Sunday World - also narrowed its pre-tax losses to e 20.9m (£17.5m) from e 43.9m (£36.7m) a year earlier.

It came during a major period of restructuring to reduce the group's burdensome debt.

This included the sale of its interests in South Africa for e 150.7m (£126m), changes to its pension scheme in the Republic and a capital raise of more than e 40m through the issue of 152,517,988 new ordinary shares.

And as a result, IN&M was able to slash its net debt from e 327m (£273m) to just e 95.3m (£79.7).

"Our balance sheet has been significantly restructured and we now have the capital structure to support our continued repositioning and ongoing digital investment programme," the company's outgoing group chief executive Vincent Crowley said.

"In addition, we continue to reduce operating costs and deliver additional efficiencies across the business, so that we are well positioned to benefit from Ireland's improving macro-economic performance in the years ahead."

The group - which this year celebrates its centenary - is continuing to see growth in online readership, where advertising revenue was up.

But print advertising revenue is still on the slide, although at a slower rate than previously - it was down e 9.5m (£7.9m) to e 73.1m (£61.1m).

The Independent group says it plans to continue its investment in digital this year after the readership of independent.ie more than doubled.

It invested e 2.4m (£2m)in digital during the second half of last year and digital revenues for the year grew 12 per cent to e 9.3m (£7.8m).

Mr Crowley said: "Our digital strategy is structured around our strong portfolio of market-leading national and regional titles, most notably, independent.ie, where our online audience grew by 54 per cent to an average of 4.8 million unique visitors in 2013. "Digital presents substantial opportunities that will underpin the sustainability of future revenue streams and drive value for shareholders."