Telegraph Media Group makes strong return to black with £53m profit

Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, returned to the black last year, recording a pre-tax profit of £53.1m. The pre-tax profit, up from a £15.7m loss the previous year , included an exceptional profit of £13.2m and net interest payable of £1.5m, TMG said in a press release. TMG said turnover for the 53 weeks ended 3 January, reflecting the severity of the economic downturn and the impact on advertising revenues, was £317m, down 7.7%. "Circulation revenues proved resilient, underpinned by an extremely strong and loyal subscriber base," the company said. TMG had an operating profit before exceptional items of £41.4m for the 53 weeks, compared with a profit of £32m for the 52 weeks in 2008. "Despite the recessionary pressures on revenues – and a steep increase in newsprint prices at the start of 2009 – a tight control on costs, alongside the benefits flowing from the successful integration of the print and online businesses begun in 2007, enabled the group to achieve this 29% profit increase," the company said. TMG said in a press release that financial statements for the 53 weeks ended 3 January, were filed at Companies House yesterday. They are not yet available on the Companies House website. The additional week contributed turnover of £4.3m and operating profit of £2.1m. TMG's pre-tax loss of £15.7m in 2008 included a £32.9m charge from terminating printing joint ventures including its West Ferry print plant co-owned with Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell, exceptional restructuring costs of £47.1m and net interest payable of £0.6m. In 2007 TMG recorded a £9.9m profit. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".