ADVERTISING SALES at Johnston Press's Irish regional newspapers rose by 4.5 per cent to £20.7 million in 2007 but its operating profit declined slightly due to a fall in printing revenues.
Full year results published yesterday by the Edinburgh-based media group show that its operating profit in the Republic declined to £8.1 million from £8.7 million in 2006. Its total revenues here amounted to £31 million in 2007, down £300,000 on the previous year. This gave Johnston Press's business in the Republic an operating margin of 26.1 per cent compared with 27.8 per cent in 2006.
Income from newspaper sales was static at £6.1 million but revenues from printing declined to £3.9 million from £5.1 million.
Johnston Press owns 23 titles in the Republic, including the Limerick Leader, the Kilkenny People, the Leinster Leaderand the Tallaght Echo. It also has titles in the North.
The results reveal that sterling's weakness against the euro last year added £10 million to the debt costs associated with Johnston Press's acquisition of the Leinster Leader group in 2005. The accounts show that the debt, which is denominated in euro, now stands at £126 million.
"It's purely a translational cost," Johnston Press's chief financial officer Stuart Paterson explained.
Mr Paterson said the advertising environment remains challenging here. He said the group has invested €2 million on new systems at its Irish operations.
