LONDON: Reporting increased advertising revenues during the year's first half, Britain's second largest newspaper publishing group - the Daily Mail & General Trust - was in upbeat mood as to its full year outlook.
DMGT lags only News Corporation,which controls over thirty five per cent of UK newspaper readership.
Although overall ad revenues rose 8% year-on-year during the first half, DMGT reports that circulation of its flagship title Daily Mail fell 2% year-on-year, while its weekend sibling, the Mail on Sunday, lost 0.7% in the six months to August.
Despite which, both titles claim to have increased market share - a sombre indicator of the UK newspaper market as a whole.
But the company says it sees no apparent signs of a slowdown in consumer advertising, even after the recent increase in interest rates. Nonetheless, it warns that further rate hikes could damage the advertising market.
Nor have DMGT titles noticed any negative impact from the recent mayhem in the global credit markets. But like British national hero Admiral Lord Nelson, the publisher is prone to turning a blind eye to that which it prefers not to see.
Data sourced from Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff
