Johnston Press: “Life is local”, they say at Johnston Press, and the Edinburgh-based publisher has been sticking to its knitting for years, consistently refusing to look beyond local newspapers and venture into the riskier waters of large regional and national papers.
That strategy has worked wonders for shareholders, with the company growing towards £1.5 billion market cap, and continuing to show returns ahead of expectations.
Results this week should be boringly good, with analysts expecting interims of around £75m profit before tax, up from £66.7m last time, and operating profits before exceptionals of £90m, against £84m.
The former family firm is still a stickler for cost control, and has squeezed 5.8% growth out of advertising revenues. But despite its Edinburgh headquarters and Falkirk roots, Johnston Press now makes just 10% of its turnover north of the border.
If life is local, this week’s figures will show that, for Johnston Press shareholders, life is also good.