In a statement issued yesterday (13 September) Johnston’s board of directors said it noted the rise in the company's share price and confirmed “it knows of no operational or corporate reason for the price movement.
Reflecting operational notes in its interim announcement last month, the statement also said the group was continuing “to actively explore opportunities for the disposal of further assets. These discussions continue to progress satisfactorily. Further announcements will be made as appropriate.”
The Edinburgh-headquartered newspaper publisher posted pre-tax losses of £184m for the first half of 2016 compared to a £2.2m profit during the same period in 2015. This was a result of a massive £217m write-down of the value of its local newspaper portfolio and a further £7m off the value of its printing presses.
Following the news, its share price, which has been steadily falling with little recovery since 2014 and was around 100p at this time last year, tumbled to an all-time low of 8p over the past month, but bounced back to its July 2016 level of more than 15p yesterday.
On Monday, a number of newspapers reported that the chairman of Johnston Press was due to meet this week with activist investor fund Crystal Amber, which holds a 3% stake in the group, with the papers reporting that the fund would then decide whether to push for change at the publishing group.
A spokesman said the timing of the meeting was purely coincidental and that meetings between Johnston Press and its investors were regular and nothing unusual.
In the face of continued print advertising and circulation decline and debts of £140m the group is maintaining its strategy of asset disposals whilst focusing on strengthening its burgeoning digital operations as well as supporting growth of newspaper title i, which it acquired from the owners of the Independent for £24m in April this year.
A 9% increase in the title’s circulation during its first month of new ownership was cited for a modest climb in print revenues for the group during H1.
Chief executive Ashley Highfield said that while the EU referendum result had created further challenges in the advertising market, the acquisition of i had been "transformational" for the group, which owns around 200 titles.
