MEDIA GROUP Thomas Crosbie Holdings, owner of the Irish Examinerand the Sunday Business Post,made a pretax loss of €6.3 million in 2010, with revenues at the company declining 13 per cent to €71.8 million.

Despite the €10.7 million fall in revenues, TCH’s cost-cutting programme meant operating losses were contained to €3.1 million, up from €2.9 million the previous year.

The pretax loss was sharply reduced on 2009, a year in which the company wrote down the value of its media brands by €30 million.

TCH chairman Alan Crosbie said the directors of the company were confident it could achieve growth over the long term, despite the “very challenging conditions” both last year and throughout 2011.

Mr Crosbie paid tribute to the commitment and support of the group’s employees, who in recent times have accepted cuts to their pay and pension benefits as the group attempted to come to terms with a difficult climate in the media sector.

The cost-cutting programme generated savings of €12 million last year and a further €4 million in the first half of 2011, the company said.

TCH chief executive Tom Murphy, who was appointed to the role in May 2010, said the market for newspapers and advertising across all platforms “continues to be challenged”.

Mr Murphy said the group-wide cost reduction programme embarked upon in 2010 was continuing through 2011 and into 2012.

“This programme has yielded significant benefits to date,” he said.

“We will also continue with our revenue-enhancing initiatives across our newspapers, radio and online platforms,” he said.

Dividends worth €70,445 were paid to shareholders in 2010, down from €1.1 million a year earlier. Directors’ remuneration fell from €1 million to €781,000. Cash-equivalent investments held by the company fell from €7.5 million to €3 million.

Alongside the Irish Examinerand the Sunday Business Post, TCH, a fifth-generation family business based in Cork, counts several regional newspapers among its interests, including Cork's Evening Echo, the Western Peoplein Mayo, the Wexford Echoand the Roscommon Herald.