As a rising tide of online competition threatens to pull newspaper publishers under, Independent News & Media (INM) has finally broken the surface. The publisher of the Irish Independent swung to top-line growth for the first time in eight years in 2015, fuelling a 29 per cent rise in adjusted pre-tax profits to €37.4m (£29.0m).
INM's digital advertising sales soared 42 per cent, offsetting lower print advertising and circulation revenues. That reflected an improved backdrop as Ireland's economy rebounded, as well as INM's investment in technology and marketing and the use of new types of adverts such as sponsored stories. The number of unique visitors to independent.ie increased by 10 per cent to a monthly average of 8.9m.
The group's operating margin widened by 1.1 percentage points to 11.8 per cent, thanks to digital gains, diligent cost control and lower interest charges following the €119m sale of its stake in Australian media group APN to News Corp. INM was also buoyed by the appointment of Newspread as wholesale distributor of The Irish Times. And management shut down both the printing operation in Belfast and Grabone, the online coupon business.
Ahead of these results, broker Davy expected adjusted pre-tax profits of €40.1m in 2016, giving EPS of 2.6¢.
| INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA (INM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 17.3¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €239m | |
| TOUCH: | 16.8-17.8¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 21¢ | LOW: 15¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 10 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 3¢* | NET CASH: | €59.7m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 558 | -64 | -7.4 | nil |
| 2012 | 345 | -291 | -50.3 | nil |
| 2013 | 322 | 254 | 37.1 | nil |
| 2014† | 319 | 23.7 | 1.5 | nil |
| 2015 | 321 | 31.2 | 1.8 | nil |
| % change | +1 | +32 | +20 | - |
*Includes intangible assets of €44m, or 3¢ a share †Restated to reflect disposals and capital reorganisation in 2013 £1=€1.29 | ||||
