LONDON: Mail Online has missed its target of making £80m in revenue this year as annual digital advertising growth slowed by more than half and profits at the Mail’s combined print and digital operation rose by 12%.
Mail Online reported £73m in revenues for the year to the end of September, reporting an annual underlying growth rate of 16%, down on the 41% reported in parent company Daily Mail & General Trust’s full year results last year.
DMGT’s share price fell by 7% in early trading as investors showed concern over negative comments about the outlook for 2016.
“The challenging market conditions in the UK print advertising market and those facing Euromoney in the investment banking and commodities sectors are likely to have an adverse impact on full year 2016 results,” said Martin Morgan, the chief executive of DMGT. “On the consumer side, revenue progress will be largely dependent on the print advertising environment, balanced against further growth in digital areas, although a continued focus on cost efficiencies should provide margin stability.”
DMGT was looking to make revenues of £80m from Mail Online, although it has said this was not a “hard target”, and the growth slowdown means it is highly unlikely it will make its aim of £100m in digital revenues for next year.
The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday saw revenues fall 7% for the year to the end of September.
DMGT said print advertising declined 12% in the second six months of its financial year, a “significant decline” compared with 5% in the first half.
For the year, print ad revenue declined 11% and circulation revenues fell 4%.
The performance of Mail Online helped reduce the overall decline across the Mail businesses to 4% or £572m in revenue.
Annual profits across the Mail businesses grew by 12% year on year to £79m.
Daily freesheet Metro increased its total revenues by 1% to £75m in the year to the end of September, as daily deals business Wowcher grew revenue 25% to £30m.
Annual profits across Metro, Wowcher and Elite Daily – the US news and entertainment site bought in January – grew 12% to £16m.
DMG Media, the division that is home to its media assets, saw total revenues fall 8% year on year, or 3% on an underlying basis, to £731m, as underlying operating profits rose 15% to £96m.
Morgan said “significant investments” continued to be made in Mail Online, but he expected continued tough conditions in the print ad market to be one factor that will impact next year’s financial results.
The company said DMG Media would deliver stable underlying revenue growth next year “in the -2% to +2% range”.
DMG Media’s first quarter trading – the three months to the end of December – were branded “satisfactory”.
Mail Online hired 100 staff in the last year, 40 of them in the US.
Mail Online employs a total global staff of 720, including 410 editorial staff. Of those, 200 are based in the US, 130 of them are editorial. Elite Daily employs around 120 staff in total.
