The loss-making operations of the London Independent newspaper assist Independent News & Media (INM) in "sheltering" the profits made by its Belfast Telegraph unit, chief operating officer Gavin O'Reilly has said.
Mr O'Reilly said in an interview on the Dow Jones newswire service that the group was not considering selling the London Independent, which is likely to lose in the region of £9 million (€12.13 million) in the current financial year.
Denis O'Brien, who has accumulated a 17 per cent stake in INM, has called on the group to sell the London title. INM has rejected that and Mr O'Brien's frequent criticisms of its board and chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly.
Gavin O'Reilly, a son of Sir Anthony, said in the Dow Jones interview that INM had no plans to sell the London newspaper.
"The Independent remains the central editorial hub of the INM group, running the group's foreign bureaus and providing an invaluable and cost-saving editorial resource for the rest of our 175-plus papers in the group."
Mr O'Reilly reiterated market expectations of 2007 earnings per share in range of 18.7 to 19 cent. He said there were no plans to take INM private nor to revisit a failed attempt last year to take private the Australian media group APN News & Media, in which INM has a 38.3 per cent stake.
He said the failure of the buyout plan for APN "was perhaps a blessing in disguise", given the state of debt markets since then.
"We are going to continue to focus on driving shareholder value for all shareholders, as we've always done."
