Daily Mail group considers sale of Northcliffe

British media group Daily Mail & General Trust today said it was willing to sell one of the UK’s largest regional newspaper publishers if the price was right.

The surprise decision to consider a sale of Northcliffe was combined with a warning by DMGT that there was no recovery in sight for its newspaper advertising markets.

Northcliffe operates from 37 publishing centres, publishing 20 daily titles that have a combined sale of almost one million copies.

Among its best known titles are the Aberdeen Press and Journal, Western Daily Press and Western Morning News.

In addition, Northcliffe has 27 paid-for weeklies that sell almost half a million copies a week and 62 free titles with a distribution of 2.5 million.

Chairman Viscount Rothermere said shareholders would receive a “substantial portion” of the net proceeds of any sale, but the group may opt instead to restructure the business further.

He said: “There remains considerable potential to improve the performance of Northcliffe and any sale will only take place if substantially more value can be achieved for shareholders.”

Shares in DMGT lifted nearly 9% on the news, that accompanied an 8% increase in pre-tax profits to £253.4m (€371m) during the year to October 2.

Scotching speculation that DMGT may also seek to offload its Associated Newspapers division, which includes the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Viscount Rothermere said these titles remain “at the heart” of the company.

“The group remains fully committed to the continued growth and development of Associated Newspapers,” he said.