Johnston Press reports first profit in four years

REGIONAL newspaper publisher Johnston Press returned to profit in the first half of 2010 but still saw advertising revenues in its Irish operations fall by 29% on a year-on-year basis.

The Scottish company, which bought into the Irish market in 2005 through its €236m acquisition of the Leinster Leader Group, reported a pre-tax profit of £26.1 million (€32m) for the six months to the first week of July. This figure was up from a pre-tax loss of £94.2m last year.

Although group revenue and earnings per share were down, when measured on a year-on-year basis, JP managed to generate its first operating profit in four years, with last year’s first half operating loss of £93.6m being reversed into a profit of £44m. JP shares closed up 8.5% at £0.16.