However, the business blamed the loss on the paper's previous business model and the cost of turning the title into a freesheet in late 2009.

The company, which was formed by Russian media mogul Alexander Lebedev as Evening Press on 10 December 2008, specifically to purchase the newspaper from Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), recorded a turnover of £22.4m for the 10-month financial period to 4 October 2009.

Its operating loss was £17.9m, but a further £9.9m was added in restructuring costs, including redundancies and the move to a freesheet model, with redundancies costing the company £3.4m.

Also included in the results was a £6.7m acquisition, revealing the price that Lebedev paid DMGT for the title.

In addition, the results showed that Evening Standard has taken on £20m in loans, which are due to be repaid in full by 31 December 2020.