INM SEEING 'GRADUAL' ADS PICK-UP - There was a return to growth and strong profits for the six months to June from Independent News & Media. This morning the company reports pre-tax profits of €53.3m before once-off items, up more than 39% compared with a year earlier.
It says advertising revenue performance improved progressively during the first half of the year, and the results were helped by the sale of UK titles The Independent and the Independent on Sunday.
The group had been reluctant to sell the titles, but their sale or closure had been pushed for by Denis O'Brien, the man once labelled a 'dissident shareholder' by INM boss Gavin O'Reilly.
The group's chief operating officer Vincent Crowley said the situation now was 'workmanlike and businesslike', and the sale of the London Independent titles had been good for the results
In Ireland, he said there had been less of a drop in advertising as the year progressed, though the market was still tough.
Mr Crowley said the World Cup provided some boost for advertising in South Africa but conditions in the wider economy in that country were still 'soft'.
For the rest of the year, he said advertising was picking up gradually and INM expected good profit growth for the full year.
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NEWS AND CURRENCIES - Ferries group Irish Continental has reported pre-tax profits of €8.2m for the first half of this year, up from €5.8m a year earlier, helped by a strong increase in passenger numbers.
The euro is trading at $1.27 and 82p sterling.
