In its interim results for the 26 weeks to 25 June, the publisher of national and regional newspaper titles, and magazines, posted overall sales down 6.1% at £279.4m.
Adjusted operating profit was down 23.5% at £36.1m. Statutory operating profit was £11.1m, down nearly 68%.
Digital revenue fell by 16.1% to £60.8m, mainly due to lower referral traffic after Facebook “deprioritised” news content.
Print revenue slipped by 2.7% to £217.3m, with circulation up 2.4% and advertising down 18.3%.
The print figures benefited from price increases implemented last year.
CEO Jim Mullen said that group revenue “group revenue continues to benefit from strong and predictable print circulation”, while digital had been “held back by a decline in traffic which is affecting the sector more broadly”.
Mullen stated: “Our print business continues to be resilient, underpinning our investment in digital growth.
“As part of maximising the value from our print assets, we’ve increased the use of themed specials; souvenir or one-off publications which have included ‘Rising Dragons’, a celebration of Wrexham’s promotion to league two, ‘Treble Winners’ commemorating Man City’s recent success and ‘Love TV’, a celebration of the best of British telly.
“The Reach Sport business continues to grow revenue from programme production and sales for Premier League clubs, with the Rugby World Cup to come during H2,” he added.
The group has invested in 9,000sqm of solar panels for its three print production sites at Watford, Oldham and Glasgow.
Reach was previously hit by huge increases in the price of newsprint, but said this was now easing and it has also broadened its newsprint supplier base for “more flexible supply”.
“We're reducing the cost of energy in print sites with the installation of solar panels, have lowered the cost of ink and printing plates and expect to benefit from reducing newsprint costs during H2,” Mullen stated.
He said the group expected to make a 5%-6% reduction in its overall operating cost base, with most of the savings to flow through in the second half.
In print-related news from other parts of its portfolio, Reach also revealed that is has more than 80,000 subscribers for its OK! magazine monthly beauty box scheme, and has sold more than 300,000 boxes.
Reach’s share price jumped by nearly 17.8% on the news, to 80.73p, but is still down 16.25% this year. (52-week high: 122.50p, low: 64.40p.)
