Publishing firm Reach said on Monday that full-year revenues had declined in 2020 as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on trading.
Reach posted a 14.6% drop in annual revenues to £600.2m, with a 10.6% surge in digital revenues being offset by an 18.9% decline in print revenues.
However, the London-listed group, which runs the Daily Mirror, Daily Record and Insider, did note that it had witnessed a recovery in print revenues and a strong digital exit rate in the fourth quarter, helping it deliver a stronger second half.
Full-year adjusted operating profits were down 12.8% at £133.8m but a strong adjusted operating cash flow of £121.8m helped support liquidity and leave the group with a net cash balance of £42.0m as of 27 December.
Reach will pay a final dividend of 4.26p per share for 2020, a marked increase on the 2.50p returned to shareholders in 2019.
Chief executive Jim Mullen said: “We have delivered our strategic milestones ahead of our original expectations and will now increase investment to accelerate delivery, focusing on the use of enhanced customer insight to drive engagement and our medium-term objective of doubling digital revenues.
“While macro-economic uncertainty resulting from Covid-19 clearly remains, the group is well placed to make good progress during 2021 and to generate increased long-term value as the strategy gathers momentum.”
As of 1005 GMT, Reach shares were down 1.89% at 234.0p.
