The venerable Dundee business publishes a raft of newspaper and magazine titles including The Press & Journal, the People's Friend, and the iconic Beano.
For the year ending 31 March 2024 sales on continuing operations were down 4.7% at just under £153.9m.
The profit on continuing operations was nearly £73m, compared with a £120m loss the prior year that followed a £151m writedown in the value of financial assets.
During the period DC Thomson closed some titles that were reaching their commercial end of life and the Pure radio station.
Print wing Discovery Print is included in ‘other’ revenue that was effectively flat at £16.8m after the cancellation of one of the group’s events.
“Contract print revenues were marginally ahead of last year, but we have now seen the closure of contracts for National World and Reach as circulation declines in the sector have led to a freeing up of print slots and a resulting repatriation of work,” the group stated.
DC Thomson said the impact of inflation had softened, with paper and outsourced print costs reduced “by both commodity price falls and lower print volumes”.
At its main Media Trading business the group is pivoting from casual purchases to “a deeper direct-to-customer relationship” that will generate predictable recurring revenues through subscriptions.
Subs revenues were up 2% at £40.6m, while newsstand sales slipped by 3%.
Energy saving initiatives at its Discovery Print operation helped the group reduce electricity consumption.
The family-owned business was founded in 1905.
