Independent News & Media said profit rose 28 per cent in the first half of the year on lower one-time costs and a "robust" performance in all regions.
Net income advanced to €48.7 million, or 6 cents a share, from €38 million, or 4.9 cents, a year earlier, the company said today. Sales fell 3.7 per cent to €780.4 million.
One-time costs dropped to €19 million euros from €27.6 million, as restructuring expenses related to international operations declined. Independent News has been investing in India, New Zealand and South Africa to make up for an economic slowdown cooling demand for ads in Ireland and the UK.
"The current economic climate presents a challenge to all media companies,'' chief executive Anthony O'Reilly said in a statement.
The company's strategy of global diversification, investment in multimedia platforms and cost efficiency would help provide resilience against the current economic downturn, the company said.
Meanwhile, the company said profit for the full year will be in line with analyst forecasts, "assuming a continuation of the first-half advertising trends", it said.
In June, Independent News said it was too difficult to forecast full-year results as advertising conditions in the second quarter were "volatile", particularly for Irish property.
Revenue in Ireland rose 0.5 per cent to €199.3 million in the first half, with ad sales dropping 5.7 per cent and online sales increasing 20 per cent. Sales in the UK dropped 14 per cent to €115.6 million.
APN News & Media, which publishes more than 100 newspapers in Australia and New Zealand, said August 12th first-half profit dropped to A$71.9 million from A$72.5 million, as slower economic growth forced companies to cut back on advertising. Independent News owns 39.1 per cent of APN.
Independent News shares fell 5 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to €1.42 in Dublin trading yesterday, giving the company a market value of €1.19 billion. Before today, the stock declined 40 per cent this year.
Bloomberg