Limerick Leader publisher reports small increase in turnover to €3.9m

THE publisher of the Limerick Leader newspaper generated a small increase in turnover last year from €3.54m to just under €3.93m, according to latest accounts filed with the Companies Office.

Limerick Leader Ltd – which publishes the aforementioned weekly newspaper and which is one of the holding companies of regional newspaper publishing group, Johnston Press – did not elaborate further on its profitable status, beyond the turnover figure and a brief follow-up statement.

In the accounts, it said that the company “has no recognised gains and losses other than those included, and therefore no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented”.

It added that remuneration costs – covering wages and salaries, social security and pension costs and termination payments – amounted to €3.93m for the year; up from €3.54m for the previous 12 months.

The company’s net assets were unchanged on the preceding year at just under €8.5m, with shareholders funds amounting to the same figure.

In its directors’ report, the company said it is “well- placed to manage its business risks successfully, despite the current uncertain economic outlook”.

It said: “The Johnston Press group has recently renegotiated its financing facilities, of which the company is a guarantor to. The group’s forecasts and projections – taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance – show that the group should be able to operate within the level of its current committed facilities.”

The Edinburgh-headquartered Johnston Press saw the recession drag its advertising revenues in Ireland down by another 33% in 2009. The fall in media asset values has kept the group from returning to its original intended action of selling off its Irish assets in the past year.