O’Brien calls on INM to remove O’Reilly

DENIS O’BRIEN has called for Gavin O’Reilly to be removed as chief executive of Independent News & Media (INM) following the group further downgrading its full-year profit forecast.

In a detailed trading update — ostensibly for the third quarter, but also touching on performance for the year to date — INM said yesterday that trading conditions since the publication of its first-half financial results, in late August, have remained “erratic and heavily influenced by macro-economic uncertainty, particularly in the eurozone”.

It added that it now expects operating profit for 2011 to come in at between €74 million and €78m. This is down from a guidance of €78m-€82m, communicated in August.