British regional newspaper group Johnston Press says the drop-off in the advertising market in Britain and Ireland has worsened since the first half of the year, dragged down by a near 50% fall in property adverts.
Johnston, which saw ad revenues down 9.5% in the first half of the year, said total ad revenues for the first 44 weeks of the year were down 15.5% on a year earlier. It added that it expected to report a full-year operating profit at the lower end of current market expectations.
The company has cut 12% of its workforce since the start of the year, mostly in back office and production areas, and is reviewing every area of the business to identify further cost savings.
Johnston said the property advertising sector showed year-on-year declines of 48.4% between the end of the first half and November 1. Employment advertising was down 32% while motoring fell 24%.
In the Republic, Johnston Press owns the Leinster Leader group, the Leitrim Observer, the Kilkenny People and the Longford Leader.
