Johnston Press gains as advertisers shun shamed Facebook for quality papers

A shift to quality brands due to concern about Facebook is boosting the newspaper trade, says Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield.

He praised an “exceptional” performance from the i newspaper which is bringing in advertisers such as Masserati and Amex which it has never had before.

He said: “There has been a shift in media spend to trusted quality brands, we are benefitting from that.”

He said that shift had begun “long before the latest Facebook trust issue” as advertisers grow concerned about their wares appearing on dubious web pages.

For the year to December, Johnston saw revenue fall 9.5% to £202 million.

It made a loss of £95 million after an impairment charge of £64 million to reflect the lower value of its smaller titles.

Johnston says a focus on its biggest titles – the i, the Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and the Northern Ireland Newsletter – is working.

“The pressures on us from Google and Facebook remain strong. I wouldn’t put the bunting out yet, but there has been a sentiment shift.”

The i made profit of £9.3 million, a “stonking result” said Highfield. The Yorkshire Post is “in very rude health”, despite a tough regional market.

Liberum, which has punchy target price for the shares of 80p, said of the numbers: “We believe this could very well be an early sign of advertisers returning some of their spend to more brand safe environments.”

The stock was today steady at 8.8p.

Liberum thinks the read across from Johnston’s figures to Trinity Mirror and DMGT is positive.