Johnston Press ad income falls 19%

Advertising revenue at Johnston Press’ Irish operations fell by just over 19% last year, to £8.9m (€11m).

Total advertising revenue at the Edinburgh-based newspaper group fell 9% to £231.3m in a challenging — and loss-making — year for the business.

Despite generating underlying pre-tax profits of £28.4m — down nearly 7% on the previous year — a £163.7m impairment charge on the value of its publishing titles pushed Johnston into the red, on a pre-tax basis, to the tune of £143.8m. The same charge in 2010 amounted to only £13.1m in comparison.