The publisher of The Guardian expects to lose another £20 million this year, despite its digital sales rising by a fifth, and has warned that wider losses are likely as it expands overseas.
Guardian News & Media pointed, however, to a likely 3 per cent rise in revenue for the year to the end of March and, in a trading statement, suggested that operating losses would remain at about the same level as those of last year, which came in at £19.4 million.
The publisher’s international push, in which it has expand into the American and Australian markets, will continue to weigh on the finances of the business.
Andrew Miller, Guardian Media Group’s outgoing chief executive, said: “You’ll see the losses increase over the next four or five years as the revenue lags behind.”
He said that the company was boosting investment in mobile products and video content, which Mr Miller described as expensive, and its international divisions, specifically the American operation.
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Guardian News & Media reported a total loss of £30 million last year when including non-cash charges relating to its Guardian Australia division.
The business is appointing a new editor-in-chief and a new chief executive for Guardian Media Group to replace Alan Rusbridger and Mr Miller, respectively. The outgoing editor hailed the “balance sheet transformation” of the company.
The sale of the group’s majority stake in Trader Media Group, the publisher of Auto Trader, has left the newspaper’s parent company with about £800 million cash , three quarters of which came from the asset sale. It also owns a one- third stake in Top Right Group, the magazine publisher previously known as Emap.
Mr Miller said that the company, which is controlled by the Scott Trust, had about £1 billion in assets including its cash and that it would invest some of that in driving its transition to digital and pushing into new markets, with India and Canada mentioned by Mr Miller as possible targets.
The publisher said that digital revenue had risen to £80 million. Globally it has 121.7 million monthly unique visitors to its website, with more online readers in the United States than Britain.