Total revenue for the six months to June declined £22.8m (24.4%), to £70.8m, while operating profit was £5.0m, down £8.1m (61.6%) on 2008.
Archant chairman Richard Jewson (pictured) said: "Our management have responded strongly in the extraordinary market conditions by focussing on innovative ways of stimulating new and existing revenue streams, reducing operating costs by £14.8m and preserving cash, while seeking new ways to develop our digital businesses. We have also made capital investment of £2m in the final stages of the Thorpe Press extension and in our IT systems."
Newspaper and printing turnover was 25.3% lower at £49.1m (2008: £65.7m) with reductions in all major advertising categories. Advertising revenues fell 29.5%.
Magazines were marginally less impacted with total turnover down 22.2% at £21.7m (2008: £27.8m), and with the Archant Specialist division holding profits at last year's level.
Good progress continues to be made in digital markets. Total digital revenues increased 18.9% while the online audience continues to grow, with average monthly unique visitors to all Archant sites growing by 48.6% to 2.4m per month (2008: 1.6m).
"Adjusting to this new and different world and restoring levels of profitability will take time," said Richard. "We remain confident of our ability to exploit the many opportunities to do so, utilising our powerful brands and building on our relationships with our readers and advertisers."
About Archant
Archant says: “Archant is the UK's largest independently-owned regional media business. It is a community media group which owns regional newspapers, consumer magazines and contract publishing, contract print and internet businesses. All its titles serve clearly defined communities - based around locations or interest groups. Archant produces four daily regional newspapers and around 60 weekly titles with a combined circulation of 2.4 million copies every week and is a UK top five regional newspaper publisher. It also publishes around 80 magazines, with a monthly circulation of over 1.5 million copies, and more than 200 websites. It is a private company and employs around 2,000 people across England, with a head office is in Norwich.”
