National Newspaper Ad Weakness Continues at Britain’s DMGT

British media group Daily Mail & General Trust is warning of continued advertising weakness at its national newspapers despite a surge in profits.

For the six months to March, DMGT posted pre-tax profits of £44.4 million ($72.4m; €62.1m), up from £32.1m a year earlier, though revenues slipped from £950m to £947.6m.

Its Associated Newspapers division – home of national titles including the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday – saw marginal advertising growth of 0.4% over the period, with display revenues down 1% and classified up 4%. Overall turnover slid from £422.4m to £418.5m.

DMGT warned such weak ad growth at its national titles continued in April. It added: “May has seen some recovery but we do not expect an improvement above pre-Iraq war levels in this financial year.”

The slide in turnover at Associated was partially offset by rising sales at regional newspaper division Northcliffe and at the group’s small broadcast division.

Data sourced from: MediaGuardian.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff