Johnston Press Swings to Large Pretax Loss, Shares Dive

By Rory Gallivan

LONDON--Shares in Johnston Press PLC (JPR.LN) dived after the newspaper group swung to a heavy full-year pretax loss after writing down the value of its titles to reflect the continuing decline in print advertising.

The publisher of the "i" national newspaper and many local titles Wednesday reported a pretax loss of 300.2 million pounds ($372.2 million) for 2016, compared with a GBP2.2 million profit the previous year. Revenue fell to GBP222.7 million from GBP242.1 million.

The company incurred an impairment charge of GBP344.3 million. Adjusted earnings, which exclude writedowns, fell to GBP49.1 million from GBP56 million.

As with other newspaper publishers, Johnston Press's share price has been hit hard by declining print advertising revenue as advertising expenditure increasingly goes online to websites such as Facebook Inc.

Johnston Press's market capitalization is dwarfed by the GBP220 million it owes bondholders, due for repayment in 2019. Johnston Press said it is exploring options in relation to the repayment.

Tough conditions in print media were also highlighted Wednesday by specialist magazine publisher Centaur Media PLC (CAU.LN), which said profit will decline in 2017 due to weak print advertising and put Period Living and other consumer titles up for sale.

Johnston Press shares at 0852 GMT were down 2 pence, or 11%, at 20 pence valuing the company at GBP20.7 million.

Centaur Media shares at 0852 GMT, were down 6 pence, or 13%, at 40 pence valuing the company at GBP57.8 million.

-Write to Rory Gallivan at [e-mail]; Twitter: @RoryGallivan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2017 05:32 ET (09:32 GMT)

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