New Johnston Press boss puts faith in newspapers

City Editor

Wednesday 16 November 2011

NEW Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield declared that "newspapers in print are not dead" as he revealed the publisher of the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post had entered talks on refinancing its £357 million debt pile.

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TIM SHARP CITY EDITOR

Mr Highfield, who previously ran Microsoft’s UK consumer and online business and also oversaw the launch of the BBC iPlayer, is keen to boost digital revenues as the Edinburgh-based company continues to be battered by the advertising downturn.

Johnston, which also owns 200 local titles, reported an 8% year-on-year fall in advertising revenues in the 18 weeks to November 5, an improvement on the first half, when income was off 10%.Mr Highfield, who took over from John Fry on November 1, told The Herald: “I took the job with my eyes open knowing that the regional press has structural challenges.”He added: “The opportunities are very clear with Johnston Press, as with other regional publishers, because the brands of the local newspapers are incredibly strong in local communities. The trick is to help move those brands into the digital age and get the right balance between print and digital.“However, it is not exclusive. I do see an opportunity for stabilising and, hopefully, in a number of areas increasing circulation revenue as well.“It is quite clear to me that newspapers in print are not dead. It is about finding what audiences need and what mixture of print and digital products to offer them.”Johnston hopes to refinance its debt pile in the first quarter of next year. Its borrowings, which were nearly £700m in 2007 after a series of acquisitions, stand at £357m, having fallen by £29.7m since the start of 2011.Mr Highfield said: “The refinancing process has just started. We fully expect a positive outcome to that.”Analysts were cheered by a better-than expected performance in circulation revenues which were 1.6% down in the period, against a 1.8% fall in the first half.Johnston Press’s shares rose 0.075p to close at 5.375p.

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New Johnston Press boss puts faith in newspapers

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