UK regional newspaper company Johnston Press said today that its like-for-like print advertising revenue for the five months to November 30 dropped 8% following a sharp cut in employment ads. The company owns the Leinster Leader group of newspapers.
Johnston, which publishes over 300 regional and local papers, said in a pre-close trading update it did not see any 'early indication of improvements in advertising markets other than those coming from easier comparatives'.
Print ad revenues fell 8% but the figure was reduced to 7.4% when digital revenues were included. Employment ads fell 12.2% from 24.2% in the first half of the year.
Johnston Press and its rivals have suffered recently as lucrative classified ads migrate to the Internet as part of a broader downturn in the UK advertising market.
But it said the integration of last year's acquisitions was progressing well and all were on track to meet its expectations as well as being earnings enhancing in 2006.
'The ongoing contribution from recent acquisitions and continued efficiency improvements should help to mitigate the impact of any continued weakness in advertising demand,' the company said.
The Edinburgh-based regional newspaper publisher also owns Score Press, which includes the Kilkenny People, Longford Leader and Leitrim Observer.
