Revenues from a 30% rise in Express and Mirror sales on the days after the Queen’s death and funeral were wiped out by brands pulling adverts according to publishers Reach.
In Reach’s third quarter financial results, released on 11 October, the company said September advertising sales were down by nearly a third year on year in the month of the monarch’s death. Reach newspaper circulation for the same month was up 4.3%.
The publisher, which cut retailer percentage margins on six national and at least 26 regional titles during the quarter, celebrated a 2% increase in newspaper sales revenues which It attributed to ‘recent price increases’.
In a sign of what news sellers should expect over the upcoming months, the publisher forecast: “We expect circulation revenue to be supported by increased cover prices.” The planned upcoming price rises come despite ‘more stability’ in newsprint costs in the last three months.
Reach also warned of potential ‘changing consumer behaviour’ caused by a ‘volatile’ political and economic climate.
Chief executive Jim Mullen praised the publisher’s ‘comprehensive, respectful and sensitive coverage of the Queen’s passing’ and said ‘actions on costs’ at the publisher were helping to mitigate inflationary pressures.
The news publisher’s battle to control costs included capping journalist pay rises to less than half of the rate of inflation, resulting in an estimated 1,150 employees at Reach going on strike in August, leading the publisher to offer a revised pay offer.
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