Regional newspaper’s turnover drops from €3.9m to €2m over one year

THE publisher of the Limerick Leader newspaper saw turnover fall from €3.9 million in 2009 to just over €2m last year.

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

The directors said that they believe that the company is “well placed” to manage its business risks successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook.

The accounts said the Johnston Press Group has in place financing facilities of which the company is a guarantor to.

“The group’s forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonable possible changes in trading performance, show that the group should be able to operate within the level of its committed facilities.

“After making enquiries, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company has access to adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and financial statement,” the accounts read.

Staff costs fell significantly last year from €3.9m to just over €2m as employee numbers fell from 73 to 45. The main losses were in editorial and production where staff number were reduced from 49 to 26.

The accounts said that the company act as an agent, publishing and distributing newspapers on behalf of Johnston Press Ireland Limited.