Independent News and Media has reported a big drop in pre-tax profits for 2017 mainly due to falling revenue, and higher legal and libels costs as it revealed a €1.5m charge related to a severance payment to former chief executive Robert Pitt.
Robert Pitt resigned from the company last October to "pursue other interests" after a boardroom row with former chairman Leslie Buckley.
This resulted in an investigation into INM by the Director of Corporate Enforcement, which is still ongoing.
INM said today that it continues to comply with requirements from the ODCE, adding that it is taking all necessary steps to meet its requests.
In its results statement today, Independent News and Media said the outlook for 2018 is for continued difficult trading conditions.
The company said its pre-tax profits for the year to the end of December fell by 31.8% to €28.5m, mainly due to continued revenue challenges and increased libel and legal costs.
Revenues at the company - which counts the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and Sunday World among its brands - dropped by 9.4% to €293m from €323.4m in 2016.
INM blamed the decrease on a decline in total advertising revenues of 10.6%, and a decline in circulation revenues of 8.4%. This also hit distribution revenues which fell by 9.5%.
It said its digital revenues were in line with 2016. But it said its Digital advertising revenue declined due to the move away from direct selling to what INM called "lower yielding programmatic selling".
It noted continued strong growth in the CarsIreland.ie business, with revenues up over 45% on a like for like basis.
The audience on its Independent.ie online platform rose by 23% year on year.
INM said that the outlook for 2018 is for continued difficult trading conditions within the media sector as key revenues - advertising, circulation and distribution - face further declines.
"INM's digital advertising revenues within the Irish market will continue to be challenged by the domination of global platforms such as Facebook and Google. EBIT from the underlying business is expected to perform in line with market expectations," it added.
The company also said it intends to make a "significant investment" to reshape the business and to deliver the strategic plan.
INM appointed a new CEO - Michael Doorly - last year and four new non-executive directors were added to the board this month. A new Chairman, Murdoch MacLennan, was also appointed earlier this week.
CEO Michael Doorly said that the results for 2017 clearly demonstrated the major challenges facing the group and the industry.
New chairman Murdoch MacLennan said he was well aware of the challenges currently facing news and online publishers all over the world.
"I am confident that a robust development strategy is being put in place, with the assistance of EY, which will open a pathway for us to identify a successful future for our business," he added.
Today's results also show that the company took a charge of €1.8m related to restructuring costs, which were mainly associated with redundancies, and acquisition related expenses.
Total net exceptional charges for the year came to €12.1m.
INM said it would not be proposing a dividend for 2017.
The company said its cash balance rose to €91.5m during the year, up €6.7m despite the increased legal and libel payments and payments to its pension scheme.
Shares in the company were lower in Dublin trade today.
