Tribune: €97k in losses a week

THE Sunday Tribune increased its losses in 2008 — losing almost €97,000 a week.

Newly filed accounts for Tribune Newspapers plc, which is part-owned by Independent News and Media (INM), show losses in the year to December 31, 2008, increased to just over €5 million from €2.8m in 2007.

INM owns 29.9% of the paper, making it the second-largest shareholder behind chairman Gordon Colleary. A significant stake is also held by Glen Dimplex, founder Martin Naughton and Mondello Park owner Martin Birrane.

INM advanced loans of €2.2m to the company last year bringing the total amount outstanding to €15.2m.

The interest rate on these loans is 8% a year and the interest accrued as at December 31, 2008 amounted to €3.9m. The newspaper’s circulation has risen consistently this year. Turnover in 2008 dropped to €9.6m from €11.4m in 2006. Redundancy costs in the year came to €164,000.

The accounts said the company’s cost base continues to be tightly managed but advertising revenues “remain weak”.

The company said it is making a big push to increase its advertising revenues for the remainder of the year, which it said are the most buoyant months for advertising.

The company budgeted for an operating loss of less than €1m in 2008 but it said the collapse of advertising revenues in the second half of the year pushed operating losses for 2008 to €2.7m.

In November and December the management team implemented a “major cost-cutting plan” which it said took over €2m out of the cost base.

Mr Colleary said: “This was an exceptional achievement and the Sunday Tribune’s cost base is the lowest of any national newspaper.”

In his statement dated July 2009, Mr Colleary said: “Trading conditions for most businesses have been very difficult during 2008/2009. It was especially so for publications and newspapers which rely on advertising revenues to generate a very substantial part of their revenues. As discussed last year, stand-alone publications, like the Sunday Tribune are disproportionately affected in a recession.”

He said the paper won a “landmark ruling on Press Freedom” in the High Court in Belfast when a judge ruled that its Northern Editor Suzanne Breen did not have to hand over her notes to the PSNI.

The number of staff at the end of last year was 59, up from 56 in 2007. Staff costs increased to almost €4.5m as a result from €3.9m in 2007.

The company’s non-executive directors are listed in the accounts as Mr Colleary, Mr Birrane, Andrew Donagher and Liam Healy.