The owner of the Daily Mirror and Express newspapers has said annual results will be better than expected thanks to a strong end to 2024.
Reach – which also owns the Daily Star and a raft of regional titles – is currently forecast to deliver underlying annual earnings of £97.8 million.
It posted underlying operating profits of £96.5 million for 2023.
But the group said it is set to take a £5 million charge in 2025 for its West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme, which it took on when Reach bought the Express newspapers in 2018.
Reach said it discovered a “historical error” when carrying out due diligence for a buy-out of the pension scheme, which will result in the extra funding.
“We have reviewed our other schemes for the same error, and we have not identified any material items,” it added.
In a brief update, Reach gave few details on the fourth-quarter trading, except to say it was “strong”.
The group had said last October that digital revenues were 2.5% ahead in the third quarter and that it expected further growth in digital turnover for the final three months, despite the ongoing impact from tech platforms’ actions on referrals.
Firms such as Facebook owner Meta moved in 2023 to prioritise user-generated content above news on their social media sites, which has rocked traditional media groups.
In the third quarter, Reach saw print turnover drop by 3.9%, with the group pushing through cover price rises and promotional campaigns to offset falling circulation numbers.
Reach has also been slashing costs in the face of industry headwinds, but said in October it was “tracking slightly ahead of the 5%-6% cost saving target we set at the start of the year”.
The firm is set to report full-year figures on March 4.
