Profits up at Mirror and Express publisher after ‘substantial’ job cuts

The publisher of the Daily Mirror, Daily Star and Daily Express newspapers has reported a 23% rise in profits following “substantial” job cuts last year.

Reach Plc, which also publishes regional newspapers including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, said it achieved operating profits of £44.5m in the first half of 2024.

The company said “efficiency savings” had helped to offset a decline in print circulation and advertising, with total revenues declining by 5.2% to £265m.

Earnings were boosted by major events including the Euros, the general election and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour coming to the UK, it said.

The company said its fortunes were also helped by a £22.8m reduction in operating costs – a fall of more than 9%.

Reach said the savings were “mainly attributable to the restructuring we undertook during 2023”, with its total headcount down 14%.

It comes after the company was heavily criticised by the NUJ for “substantial” job cuts last year.

At the time, the union warned the mass redundancies were “not consistent with the company’s stated aim of commitment to quality journalism”.

The publisher axed more than 700 roles in 2023, including around 450 in its most recent restructuring programme, which included the closure of some regional news websites in the autumn.

The firm blamed inflationary pressures for worsening the challenges already faced by the industry, including falling newspaper readership.

Reach’s half-year results on Wednesday also reported that digital page views of its publications had declined by 25% over the period.

It blamed the “ongoing impact of 2023’s referrer deprioritisation of news” after internet giants including Facebook and Google changed their algorithms affecting news traffic last year.

However, the firm said it was now making more money from page views, and that trends were “improving” and the digital advertising market was stabilising.

The publisher also said it was continuing to “robustly test a number of AI opportunities to support both our editorial teams and the wider business”.

Commenting on the results, Reach chief executive Jim Mullen said he was “pleased to have delivered further operational progress this year, with our commercial and editorial teams making the most of the strong news agenda”.

He added: “We continue to build a stronger, more resilient business and are on track with our plans for the year.”

It comes as newspaper publishers increasingly switch their attention to online news amid a general decline in print readership.

Earlier this year, London newspaper the Evening Standard announced it would scrap its daily weekday print edition after nearly 200 years.