Profits at the London Evening Standard dropped by a third last year.
The freesheet, now edited by George Osborne, reported underlying profits of £2.2m in the 12 months to October — against £3.3m the previous year.
Advertising revenues held steady at £71m, but the Standard increased its circulation to more than 1m — pushing up overheads. The bill for distributing the paper across London rose from £11.5m to £12.9m.
It is controlled by Evgeny Lebedev, the son of Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev. The Daily Mail and General Trust, its former owner, retains a 25% stake in the newspaper.
Comparison site suffers
Tough markets for energy giants will take their toll on price comparison website Moneysupermarket when it reports half-year profits.
Advertisement
The FTSE 250 company, whose shares have soared 45% over the past year, is set to warn of a slowdown in bulk-switching deals — where hordes of customers agree to switch power supplier. The warning is expected alongside first-half results on Thursday.
Former John Lewis executive Mark Lewis recently took over as chief executive of the company.
Sunny June on high street
Hot weather in June gave a welcome boost to Britain’s retailers, Office for National Statistics figures this week will show.
Economists forecast a 0.5% rise in sales following May’s 1.2% decline, as an unusually sunny month brought shoppers out on to the high street.
Even so, most experts think the rebound will be tough to sustain in the face of stagnating wages and rising prices. Separate figures this week are expected to show consumer price inflation unchanged at 2.9%.
Advertisement
4.5%The 42-year low in Britain’s unemployment rate, according to figures last week. Despite joblessness hitting a level not seen since 1975, there is little sign of wages picking up, with growth in average weekly pay slowing to 1.8%.
Spinout seeks cash injection
An Oxford University spinout on a mission to stop donated organs going to waste is raising £7m in fresh investment.
OrganOx, founded by two university professors, developed a device that can keep donors’ organs alive and healthy while they wait for a recipient.
It means fewer livers and other organs will be thrown away, fuelling hopes that fewer people will die while waiting for a transplant.
Craig Marshall, chief executive, will use the cash to fund a trial in the US. “About a quarter of people on the waiting list are not able to have a transplant, and die,” said Marshall, 54.
Advertisement
OrganOx’s device has already been involved in 220 liver transplants conducted by the NHS. It has previously raised £17m from investors and is planning a stock market listing in the next two years.