Star publisher reveals profit decline for 08

Independent Star Ltd, publishers of The Irish Daily Star and its sister title The Irish Daily Star Sunday today reported operating profits €6.828m for the year ended December 26, 2008, down 6.8% on 2007 performance.

The company paid shareholders dividends totally €6.4m, it said in a statement.

Circulation for the paper’s titles also showed a slight decline with the Daily Star recording an average ABC for 2008 of 107,227, a decline of 1.7%, while the Star on Sunday reported an average 2008 ABC of 60,637, a decrease of 4.3%.

"Despite difficult trading conditions particularly in the second half of the year, the strong profit performance demonstrated the resilience and strength of the Star’s brand," Managing Director Paul Cooke said.

Regarding 2009, Mr. Cooke said that the company was trading profitably and is in line with budget.