The exodus of consumers and advertisers from newspapers and magazines poses an existential threat to print publishers. Trinity Mirror (TNI) has mounted a strong defence: although underlying revenues slid 8 per cent in the reported period, digital gains and falling costs fuelled a 4 per cent rise in adjusted operating profits to £110m.
The shrinking newspaper market meant the Daily Mirror publisher was forced to stomach a 9 per cent slump in circulation of its flagship publication. A 5 per cent slide in total underlying circulation sales, coupled with a 17 per cent slump in print advertising revenues, meant revenues in the main publishing division fell by a tenth. That was despite a 22 per cent increase in digital publishing sales, as average monthly unique users soared more than a third to 98m.
Management unearthed £20m in savings as it slashed costs, consolidated operations and boosted efficiency. Combined with lower newsprint prices and volumes, that meant underlying operating costs fell 9 per cent to £489m. Trinity Mirror also shelled out £183m for regional publisher Local World. And it recently launched New Day, the nation's first new national newspaper in three decades.
Broker Numis expects EPS of 36.7p this financial year, up from a reported figure of 33.2p in 2015.
| TRINITY MIRROR (TNI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 150.75p | MARKET VALUE: | £427m | |
| TOUCH: | 150.5-152.75p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 207p | LOW: 127p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.4% | PE RATIO: | 5 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | £92.9m | |
| Year to 27 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 761 | 74 | 31.4 | nil |
| 2012 | 707 | 10 | 6.8 | nil |
| 2013 | 664 | -161 | -39.0 | nil |
| 2014 | 636 | 82 | 28.1 | 3.00 |
| 2015 | 593 | 67 | 30.2 | 5.15 |
| % change | -7 | -18 | +7 | +72 |
Ex-div: 12 May Payment: 10 Jun *Negative shareholders' funds | ||||
