DMGT undertakes 100m cost-cutting plan

Daily Mail & General Trust is undertaking a £100m cost cutting programme. It comes as the company reported a 9% fall in adjusted profits before tax to £262m in the 12 months to September 28.

The publisher of the Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Metro, says the cost cutting plan is part of its bid to boost revenue and protect its titles.

The company has also reported revenue growth of 3% year on year to £2.31bn.

Underlying operating profit at its Northcliffe Media UK division – which publishes around 100 regional titles – fell 32% in the year to the end of September. Profits fell by 23% year-on-year revenue slump between July and September, with property advertising down 52% in October.

Peter Williams, DMGT finance director, says the situation “could get much worse”. He adds that 400 employees have left the company in the last two months or “are about to leave” and that this was “well over halfway to where we want to be” in terms of staffing reductions.

Most of the cost-saving measures however will not be related to job cuts and Williams says that no newspaper titles have been earmarked for closure.