* FY operating profit 75.5 mln euros vs 74.4 mln consensus
* Cuts costs by 11.3 pct
DUBLIN, March 22 (Reuters) – Irish publishing group
Independent News Media Plc posted an annual profit
down 9 percent year-on-year, in line with analyst expectations,
and said the Irish market remains challenging as advertising
revenues are hammered.
Independent News (INM) cut its 2011 profit forecast in
November after global economic uncertainty hit advertising
sales, prompting its largest shareholder to call for the chief
executive’s resignation.
The Dublin-based group has radically restructured over the
past two years, selling its flagship UK title the Independent,
as well as interests in India, shutting loss-making newspapers
in Ireland and swapping debt for equity to secure its future.
“2011 was another challenging year for our industry.
Ireland’s economic prospects stabilised … but consumer demand,
and spending, did not return to the domestic economy as
austerity measures and the Eurozone debt crisis, in particular,
weighed on sentiment,” Gavin O’Reilly, Group CEO said in a
statement on Thursday.
The company posted a full-year underlying operating profit
of 75.5 million euros ($99.6 million) compared with 82.6 million
a year ago and in line with an analyst consensus of 74.4 million
euros.
Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, who owns nearly 22 percent
of the group and has fought with management for years, said in
November that a second profit warning in three months risked
Independent News encountering difficulties with its bankers.
Shares in INM closed at 25 cents on Wednesday, after falling
below the 1 euro mark nearly two years ago, valuing the group at
approximately 138 million euros.
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
