Canadian media giant Postmedia continues to see declining revenues and net losses.
On Wednesday, it said it “intends to continue to identify and undertake ongoing cost reduction initiatives in an effort to address revenue declination in the legacy print business.”
In reporting its financials for the three months ended May 31, Postmedia said its net loss was $7.7 million for its fiscal third quarter compared to $15.5 million in the same period a year ago.
8.2% revenue decline primarily due to decreases in print advertising
The company reported revenue for the quarter of $157.1 million as compared to $171 million last year, representing a decrease of 8.2 per cent. The revenue decline was primarily due to decreases in print advertising revenue of $13.8 million or 17.6 per cent and print circulation revenue of $3.4 million or 6.3 per cent. Digital revenue increased by $3 million or 10.1 per cent in the quarter with digital advertising revenue up 12.2 per cent, explained Postmedia.
The media giant owns newspapers across Canada, including the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Sun and Edmonton Sun.
“We are pleased to report our 10th consecutive quarter delivering double digit digital advertising revenue growth,” said Andrew MacLeod, president and chief executive officer of Postmedia, in a news release. “The continued success of our strategy is the result of our talented teams who are pushing on all fronts – creating award-winning journalism, innovative products and client campaigns while pursuing all possible revenue streams and transformation initiatives.
“We will continue to be creative in order to preserve journalism in this country which struggles to transform itself on an uneven playing field. We face competition from virtually unregulated international digital giants and from government subsidized crown corporations that are chasing the same private sector revenue dollars that we are. While the temporary journalism tax credit will support journalism jobs, until these systemic structural issues are addressed, our industry’s challenges will continue.”
Postmedia said revenue for the nine months of the company’s fiscal year was $474 million compared to $517.6 million last year, representing a decrease of 8.4 per cent. The revenue decline was primarily due to decreases in print advertising revenue of $37.8 million or 15.8 per cent and decreases in print circulation revenue of $10.9 million or 6.5 per cent. Digital revenue increased by $6.3 million or 7.2 per cent year to date with digital advertising revenue up 9.5 per cent.
It said its net loss in the nine months was $14.2 million compared to a net loss of $11 million last year.
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